Does Schumacher exist?

[angst]

Everybody seems to be discussing the rights and wrongs of Hakkinens/McLarens dsq/non dsq or whatever shambled decision the FIA have decided or not decided to make(or not make?). And I keep thinking back to the race and I'm sure I remember some German chap in a Ferrari drive his unraceworthy machine back onto the track in a deliberate attempt to get the race stopped (also, by the way, increasing the dangers that the marshalls there had to face). I know the fellows name, and I've checked and he does indeed race for Ferrari in F1, and very succesfully aswell, so it just leaves the question does my memory serve me wrong? I only ask as nobody seems to want to mention it, least of all the stewards or the good old FIA(and yet Zonta got a stop/go penalty for what was a racing incident).Please somebody help, what's going on? Am mad?

[Schume]

Maybe the one thing you have forgotten is that it says in the script for the 2000 F1 Season that MS will win the WDC.

There has also been much talk in these forums about Ferrari bias on the part of the FIA. Depends how you look at it, but it does seem that way sometimes

But normally they come up with a "yes you are guilty, no you are not" decision like in the recent McLaren case.

MS was certainly trying to get the race stopped in Austia.
(Giving Zonta a stop/go for nudging him was a new twist.)

One thing about MS is that he does everything to the very limit of the rules. So if the rules are dubious anyway, like the "one change of direction", he will exploit them to the full.
There is nothing to say that he should not have driven back onto the track, whatever his motives.

[jvilleneuve2000]

There is nothing wrong with what schumacher does, it all adds to the excitment of f1. How do you know that schumacher didnt stall his car after trying to get back on the track???.I am getting ****ed of with people moaning about schumachers starts and the incident with DC. The French Gp was the most exciting races in along time, to get rid of aggressive driving would ruin the sport. Just look at the three drivers that have given us great racing over the last 10 years Senna, Prost and schumacher, they have all used aggressive tactics to win.

[angst]

WHAT?!!! - I'm not talking about Schumachers move on Coulthard( and there is a difference between aggressive driving and blatant blocking, I personally didn't see much wrong with Schumachers move in the French Grand Prix). But to suggest that, firstly MS didn't notice the state ofhis front suspension and secondly that one of the best drivers in the world keeps his engine running, drives his car onto the track and THEN stalls it just pushes the boundaries of belief just that tad too far.

[jvilleneuve2000]

Sorry i had to get all of that anger out!!!!. It wasnt the most dangerous thing i have ever seen a driver do, to drive 2 meters onto the track. It is good to see a driver that wants to win that bad.

[angst]

Schume, I'm sure I remember Alesi being fined a couple of years back for removing his steering wheel after retiring, making it difficult for the marshalls to remove his car from the track, I would have thought that MS' actions in deliberately driving his car back onto the track were at least as bad.

[Danielsun]

I'm not taking my usual shot at Schumacher here (rare form, eh?), but I'm just left wondering what would have happened if some other driver, say, Coulthard, had done the same thing. What would the FIA have done in that case?

As for the incident that caused this whole fiasco: why did Zonta get the penalty? It's not as if crashes at the start of a race - not least races with a tight first corner - are a new thing. Giving someone a stop/go for something that was in the first place not his fault (don't say the Ferraris didn't brake early!) is absolutely ridiculous!

And then there's the remarks of the tripple-chinned one that Zonta 'overestimated his ability'; how many times has he done the same thing? Funnily enough, however, they normally happen in the season-ending races...

There's something very wrong with the FIA...

[angst]

I agree completely, there is something very, very wrong with the FIA. Bent as a nine bob note, as they say.

[Schume]

Angst, whatever the rights and wrongs in all this you are dead right about the FIA. Sadly they're no different to the "ruling body" of any major sport where there are billions involved. There's too much at stake to be straight, for some people.

[Liz]

Y'all keep forgetting it's not racing. It's show biz.

[Valve Bounce]

I agree with Angst - it's not fair. MS should have been given a 10 second stop/go penalty, same as Zonta.

[Cameron]

What causes me concern is that unlike a normal driver error happening in a split second what we saw was a calculated act preplanned whilst MS was parked and then executed.

There was obviously no concern for the safety of the marshalls or other drivers. To me that is a frightening thought as to the mindset of MS.

Sorry MS fans but I think that the stewards should definitely have been involved - and just for the record I would have said the same if it had been any other driver.

[Valve Bounce]

I think the word we are all looking for is "Cynical". Yes!! The drivers coming around on teh second lap could have been endangered. Yes!! The marshalls responsible for getting the Ferrari off the track could have been endangered. Don't forget, this was a very short lap - around 1'14". But MS is the MAN, according to the FIA, and he must be given every consideration. There, I've said it.

[Danielsun]

Originally posted by Cameron
Sorry MS fans but I think that the stewards should definitely have been involved - and just for the record I would have said the same if it had been any other driver.

Very good point, although my point is that no other driver would ever do such a thing - with the possible exception of the Prost drivers, if one had a chance of taking the other out of the race!!

Schumacher is the only driver in the entire field to have done this sort of thing and he's done it for too many years; it's not just a one-off thing - just look at the record. Oh. Wait a minute. His record's clean. Shame on the FIA for bowing to the AR5E's supporters, for being too fearful of the repercussions to do anything about his driving tactics.

First DC with his pointing the finger, then Zonta biffing him. Doesn't brother Ralfy owe him some payback for Spain?

[Tristan]

You are all making one gross assumtion: THAT SCHUMACHER STALLED DELIBERATLY. Bull****. There seem to be many people here looking for a conspiracy (again) when one simply does not exist. There's no script (beleive it or not), Schumacher's driving this season has been perfectly legal: you'll be saying that someone should just simply let someone past as if they've been lapped next. Be real and don't be so goddamn stupid.

[Danielsun]

Don't blame me, sir! I'm not looking for conspiracy theories; it's M. Schumacher: one is not needed, given who we're talking about.

As I said before, nobody else in the field has ever done such a thing. And don't go telling me that the car would have been driveable after such an off. It's exactly what he did in 1994 at Adelaide. As soon as the pressure's on, he cracks...

[Minardi fan]

I agree that at Austria TGF should have been punished for deliberately attempting to stop the race.

[Danielsun]

Originally posted by Minardi fan
I agree that at Austria TGF should have been punished for deliberately attempting to stop the race.

You tell 'em, Gaston!!!

Being serious for once, I can't see why the FIA would do nothing about it. Having been an official a few times, I know the inherent dangers of being very close to the track during a race. What Schumacher did is endanger himself and all around him. But he's the Almighty One, so Max and Bernie turn a blind eye to every bad thing he does. He doesn't swerve at all, no.......

[Valve Bounce]

Yeah!! Crow Eater!! But didn't it feel good when the marshals got rid of the Ferrari in double quick time, and the look on the thwarted TGF's face as he walked back to the pits was the icing on the cake. Carna Lions!!