Farewell Schumacher

[G.Irish]

Welp today at Interlagos circuit in Sao Paolo Brazil, Michael Schumacher completed his last race. As was pretty much expected, he was not able to wrest the championship from Fernando Alonso after having suffered a costly DNF at the previous round at Suzuka. In qualifying this weekend he had a fuel pump fail so he was only able to qualify tenth.

Still, when the flag dropped Schumi charged his way through the field, only to have his rear tire punctured by the front wing of Giancarlo Fisichella. Schumacher had to return to the pits and fell back to last place, almost getting lapped by his teammate Felipe Massa who was leading the race.

But he came back out like a bat out of hell and charged right back through the pack, getting all the way back up to 4th place. Not the perfect ending but certainly a driving performance worthy of one of the greatest of all time.

Results
1. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 71 01:31:53.751
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault +18.6
3. Jenson Button Britain Honda-Honda +19.3
4. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari-Ferrari +24.0
5. Kimi Raikkonen Finland McLaren-Mercedes +28.5
6. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault-Renault +30.2
7. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda-Honda +40.2
8. Pedro de la Rosa Spain McLaren-Mercedes +52.0

9. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber +67.6
10. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda +1 lap
11. Scott Speed USA Toro Rosso-Cosworth +1 lap*
12. Robert Doornbos Holland Red Bull-Ferrari +1 lap
13. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Cosworth +1 lap*
14. Christijan Albers Holland Spyker-Toyota +1 lap
15. Tiago Monteiro Portugal Spyker-Toyota +2 laps
16. Sakon Yamamoto Japan Super Aguri-Honda +2 laps

Rtd Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 63 laps completed
Rtd David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Ferrari 14 laps completed
Rtd Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota 10 laps completed
Rtd Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota-Toyota 9 laps completed
Rtd Mark Webber Australia Williams-Cosworth 1 lap completed
Rtd Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 0 laps completed

The surprise result of the race was Takuma Sato taking 10th in the Super Aguri Honda. At the beginning of the season they were the laughing stock of the grid but today they got a top ten and Sato even recorded the 7th fastest lap of the race. How far they've come after such a rough start.

[Mike]

didn't schumie get FTD?

[ScottyB]

it was his left-rear that was punctured. it was phenomenal to see him charge back up the field to where he finished....what a guy.

great race to see the finish of, alot of milestones took place on the podium and with Shumi's retirement.

[Feersty]

Can't wait to see who dominates F1 now.

[bassmangrammy]

Massa has looked very good in the few races I've seen this season.

[Mike]

Can't wait to see who dominates F1 now.

my guess? maybe the guy who has won the last two seasons.

[Ryan T]

Schumacher will be gone 3 years, Alonso will dominate, then I see a comeback for Schumacher where he cleans house for a few seasons, then leaves again.

[CaptainHenreh]

Schumacher will be gone 3 years, Alonso will dominate, then I see a comeback for Schumacher where he cleans house for a few seasons, then leaves again.

Or Schumacher races for Toyota in NASCAR.

OMG, I would give my left nut to see Shumie bust some balls on a NASCAR oval.

I'm coming for youuu ricky booby....

[.RJ]

my guess? maybe the guy who has won the last two seasons.

But Fred is going to McMerc... they have a history of being unreliable.

[G.Irish]

Yeah Kimi would easily have at least one championship to his name if not for the awful reliability of the McLaren. Turn arounds do happen in F1 but Alonso is definitely going to a car that was worse than his Renault this year. He'll probably also have to contend with the rookie sensation from GP2, Lewis Hamilton next year. As a rookie you can't really bet on him challenging for the title but I have a feeling he'll be a much more formidable teammate than ole Fisi.

My guess is that next year is Kimi's year. Everyone will be on Bridgestones next year but Ferrari is on them now so they'll have a bit of a headstart. Kimi will finally have a car that is fast and reliable, the only problem is that Massa is pretty quick all on his own and could take points away from Kimi.

Ferrari has got to be the favorite, it's just a question of where everyone else will be. I don't think Fisichella has what it takes to win the championship at Renault and although his rookie teammate Heikki Kovalainen is fast, I don't know if he can challenge for the title right away though.

Honda has looked strong in the last couple of races in the season after utterly dissapointing midway and they finally have a full scale wind tunnel so they should get some more wins next season at least. Button is starting to put in some very strong drives with an average finishing position of about 3rd in the last 5 races of the season. He came from 14th all the way to the podium today, and in his maiden win he came from way back as well so he's definitely got some fight in him.

[G.Irish]

Schumacher's lasting legacy will be that he was an all time great driver, yet his accomplishments will always be under the shadow of the underhanded and unsportsmanlike things he has done throughout his career. While always cordial and polite publicly he has always been ruthless behind the wheel and has never, ever apologized for any of his wrongdoing. Perhaps this is why many refuse to call him the undisputed 'best ever'.

Really, had it not been for two of his bonehead moves (trying to block people at Hungary, resulting in a DNF and of course Monaco) this season he might have had his 8th title.

Best and Worst Schumacher moments from sportinglife.com

FIVE OF THE BEST
1991: Qualifies a stunning seventh for his grand prix debut with the unfancied Jordan team.

1994: Manages a heroic second place in Spain despite racing for 40 laps stuck in fifth gear.

1995: Reels in Jean Alesi in the closing stages at the Nurburgring, obliterating a 42-second deficit in 27 laps before passing the Ferrari around the outside on the penultimate lap.

1996: Wins at a wet Barcelona by 45 seconds after annihilating the opposition despite dropping to sixth at the start.

1998: Produces a brilliant run of flying laps at Hungary to make an audacious three-stop strategy work.

2003: Responds to the death of his mother overnight by winning in Imola despite his grief.

FIVE OF THE WORST

1994: After hitting the Adelaide wall and terminally damaging his car, smashes into Damon Hill to secure his first world title.

1997: Cynically slams into Jacques Villeneuve in a failed bid to win the world championship. Is stripped of his second place in the championship by the FIA.

2002: Takes advantage of Ferrari team orders to pass team-mate Rubens Barrichello yards from the chequered flag in Austria for a victory greeted by boos from the crowd.

2002: Inexplicably attempted to engineer a dead heat at Indianapolis, only to lose out to Barrichello by 0.011 seconds.

2006: Parks his Ferrari across the track in Monaco in an attempt to disrupt qualifying and retain pole position. Sent to the back of the grid by stewards.