Schumacher To Retire From F1 At End Of 2006 Season
Even if you’ve never watched a single formula one race, you’ve probably heard of Michael Schumacher. Aide form being Ferrari’s lead racer, he might just be the world’s most famous racing car driver thanks to the widespread fanbase of Formula One, and the Ferrari team. Although there has been speculation for quite some time that the F1 ace would be retiring, it was confirmed after yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix - he will be retiring at the end of the 2006 season at the Grand Prix of Brazil at the end of October.
Schumacher holds more titles in the world of Formula One than any driver that has ever preceded him. The 37-year old veteran has been racing since 1991, where he debuted at Spa, in Belgium. The Italian Grand Prix marked his 90th win, 71 of which were behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car. Of course, there are plenty of other important numbers, including the fact that he’s raced in 247 F1 races, sat on pole 68 times, yes, another record, and has set no less than 75 fastest laps. Overall, by the time he will retire, he will have competed in 250 races, which is a truly impressive feat. The only major record which the German racer will leave untouched is that of overall starts. By the end of his career he will have started 250 times, which is six shy of the current record holder Riccardo Patrese.
Although Schumacher and his team were toppled in the 2005 season, they seem to be right on track for the current year - not without controversy mind you. Schumacher’s victory at the Monza circuit in Italy brought his point count to within two of the current leader and last year’s champion, Fernando Alonso, whose engine expired near the end of the race in which the Spaniard had driven to third after being pushed back to a tenth place starting position by a questionable call of blocking Ferrari driver Felipe Massa during qualifying by the race stewards. Many question whether Renault’s fuel strategy would have had him in front by race end, and whether the fact that Alonso had to push his engine as hard as he did to reach the point where it blew, if he had only started in fifth place. There have been a number of questionable calls that have helped Ferrari this year, and therefore people are concerned the FIA is trying to orchestrate the perfect swan song for Schumacher by having him win the championship yet again. Truly, with three races left in the series and only two points separating him from Alonso, it is very possible for Schumacher to clench the title of F1 Champion for an unprecedented eighth time.
With regards to his announcement, Schumacher said, “I want to thank everyone who has accompanied me, supported and inspired me, right back to the days of my childhood… all these years in Formula One have been amazing, especially those spent alongside my friends in the Scuderia. Soon my future will belong to my family, while I am happy to be still part of Ferrari. But for now, what matters is this world championship.” Although the announcement was made just yesterday, Schumacher claimed that he decided to retire at the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis, at the beginning of July.
Nevertheless, the legend that he leaves behind will be difficult for anyone to topple. In an interview, Schumacher’s rival and Renault driver Fernando Alonso said that he doubts that anyone will ever get close to beating Schumacher’s number of victories.
Although he won’t be participating in the sport, Schumacher will still be involved with Ferrari. Though his position has yet to be announced (we’ll have to wait until he retires), it is likely he will oversee the Formula One team, and possibly may include involvement in the road car business. Schumacher played an instrumental role as a tester when the company was developing the Enzo supercar. There are also those speculating that he may oversee another Formula One team, with the name Volkswagen being bantered about. This does seem like more F1 gossip, mind you, as his future seems clear with Ferrari.
In related news, Mercedes-McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen, who took pole at Monza and placed second in the race, will be taking Schumacher’s lead driver position at Ferrari, and Massa, who has driven well this year, will continue as the number two driver.
September 11th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Maybe other drivers now will have some chance of winning, but Shumi is getting out on a good note so that’s one good thing.