Schumacher: I didn’t return to drive around in circles
22 October, 2012
Michael Schumacher will return to retirement at the end of the 2012 season
Oct.22 (GMM) Michael Schumacher has admitted he that expected to succeed again in Formula One when he agreed to return to the sport with Mercedes in 2010, after a three year lay off.
The great German had retired as a seven time world champion at the end of 2006, and now admits that he only agreed to come back with Mercedes because he thought he would win.
“I can only say that I didn’t return to drive around in circles,” 43-year-old Schumacher, reflecting on his decision to now return to retirement, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
“I wanted to pursue my passion and succeed. The base was good at the time; the team had just won the world championship [as Brawn], so [you] add the great name of Mercedes, and myself – everything looked good,” he added.
“We thought, if you add two and two, we’re going forward. In the end, it wasn’t possible, as we now know.”
Indeed, some say Schumacher’s three-year project with Mercedes has forever tarnished his ultra-successful image.
Two weeks before he announced his retirement decision at Suzuka, for example, some journalists were suggesting Schumacher should take an eye test.
“You learn to deal with it,” he explained. “There are some people who are just trying to come up with headlines about me.
“When you understand that, you’re better at ignoring it,” said Schumacher. “I really wanted to go to the press conference at Suzuka with a white cane, after all the questions about whether I needed glasses and [about] night blindness and so on.
“Seriously, I could only laugh about it. My eyes work perfectly.”
Subbed by AJN.
Related posts:
- Schumacher: I have decided to retire at the end of the year
- Schumacher offered non-driving Mercedes role
- Schumacher under fire for “anonymous” race
- Rosberg “helps” superstitious Schumacher
- Piero Ferrari: “Schumacher is not a traitor”
Hey fanbois!
Go back to where you belong. You don’t have to teach us that lesson. Even 6 year old kids driving karts would laugh at you if you give them that lesson…
Fan voice… lol
@hammad
I agree but I don’t agree lauda being in merc. I hate the guy. He pushed for hiring Hamilton and pushing Schumi out!
It’s impossible to compare drivers in F1 machinery as the cars are never truly equal. It would be a better example to look at the Race of Champions. Micheal has faired pretty well in equal cars against much younger racers in many categories. He is a great talent and simply didn’t have all the puzzle pieces to succeed in his run with Mercedes.
He may no longer be the best in the world, but for him to be competitive at this age should tell the world how good he really is. F1 will be a lesser fomula without him.
Man the bogus defense of Schumacher just went through the roof.
First off Schumacher did race during his first retirement, he raced in Super bikes a very demanding type of racing. So he was able to keep his sharpness and timing. He was not just sitting around getting fat like you all want to make it sound.
Face the facts for three years Schumacher get his arse handed to him by a driver who is not considered one of the top F1 drivers in Rosberg.
All your coulda, woulda and shoulda’s are nothing more than a smoke screen.
Michael knows that and that is why he is retiring.
Comparing Kimi or Alonso to Michael is bogus. Kimi is 10 years younger, took only 2 years off while racing other cars. Michael took 3 years off and was not actively racing. Kimi’s title in 2007 was with the team Michael teed up and remained an advisor to. Alonso is 12 years younger than Michael. Who is/was better at any time is irrelevant, the times. cars, teams were all different. The cruel fate of all champion level racers is to be set back by age and changes in the sport, long before the desire to succeed fades. Next will be Alonso, Button and Weber, as the likes of Vettel (and company) hbring 6+ years of youth and hyper focus to burn against them. In a sports around the world, this has become more of a factor than years of experience in determining who succeeds and who fades.
In my opinion Michael Schmacher still the main event in Mercedes comparing to Rosberg. Rosberg is a good driver but not great, he will perform good if the car good but hardly as good as the great drivers such as Schumacher or Alonso. I still think he is overrated. Proven by Mercedes choosing Hamilton as their popular driver with that salary. This 3 years i won’t say Nico beat Schumacher, as Schumacher wasn’t in his top level but still manage to outpace the younger one.
Schumi has gotten old, period. He’s lost his speed, he’s lost his ultra-quick reactions. That’s just it. Kimi is younger than him, and has been rallying during his absence in F1. That’s why he still has it. Kimi didn’t leave racing. But Schumi did.
It’s like playing a racing game, leaving it and returning to play it after 6 months. Your fingers feel slow right? And your eyes can’t keep up. That’s an example, if you’re really good in something, you get old, then leave it, you’re done. Does anyone expect Maradona to be as fast as when he was young? Think Pete Sampras can beat Federer now..?
I’m not surprised there are many “geniuses” here when it comes to Schumi-bashing. I’m not a fan of him either, but racing isn’t as easy as people think. Everyone that knows how to drive, and goes to a 30-minute race class will have the basics of racing. Accelerate, go thru the gears, brake, downshift, turn..easy. But try doing that 100X faster with traffic rushing around you.
Haters gonna hate.. I’m not surprised.
@Fanbois having a hard time
All the critics must have thought that before pointing finger on Schumacher. All so called experts continue to say that Schumacher has been out qualified by his younger team mate during last 2 years, if qualifying means nothing then whats the point in saying so? Now when the 7 timer has out qualified his team mate all people say that it means nothing? Actually there are only two type of fans in F1 i.e. Pro Michael and Anti Michael, no 3rd category exists
@Hammad: Qualifying means nothing. You can qualify ahead of your team mate all year long but if you don’t perform when it counts in the race where the points are given, well I am sure even you can figure that out.
Kimi has been been out qualified as well but Kimi sits third in the championship so Kimi has raced very well and beat his teammate.
Schumacher on the other hand has not beat Rosberg for three striaght years now.
It is exactly like I said Schumacher saw Brawn had won the championship in 2009 and thought hey I can take over that team and keep right on going just like at Ferrari.
Schumacher all but admits that in this article. Even Schumacher in another article has admitted it is not the car it was him. Funny how his fanbois can’t seem to grasp that fact.
So we now have Schumacher admitting:
1. It was his fault not the cars or teams for his lack of success.
2. He thought that stepping into the 2009 championship winning Brawn car was going to let him win races and championships.
Here is a little fact for you Schumacher fans, you don’t get points for qualifying, you only earn points on Sunday in the race.
Schumacher could learn a lot from Kimi about that.
@Venezia
very true, that’s why christian danner has urged niki lauda to fire all the technical team of Mercedes GP
Schumacher vs Rosbery head to head qualifying 2012:
Michael leads 9 to 7. The 7 timer has certainly raised the level of his game
Schumi and Nico brought their game this year, its just the team have a lousy performance.
Only Mercedes is to blame for such lackluster performances. I think every 1 would agree that Monaco is the toughest of all F1 circuits and if the man can deliver a stunning lap there then no doubt he can deliver that on each circuit of F1. Michael I think your critics need glasses
He should have replaced massa when massa was injured. He could have gotten a win and returned to retirement. Continued on to Ferrari as a consultant and did not involve himself with merc. Is it such a gratitude that he had to partner with merc? As with all sport greats, this was a wrong turn for him like Michael Jordan ended his career with the wizards.
It’s depressing after a promising start it ended this way. It is not schumi’s fault. He relied on the team and merc to give him a decent car and they failed him miserably! It was promising at first as he said, by the second year he was the number one overtaker, and this last year with the subpar car and the substandard tyres he just ran out of steam and motivation to go on. How can they do that to a 7time world champion and a legend at that! Merc and the rest should be ashamed of themselves. Shame on you. Merc sucks!