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Schumi should be honest with himself and retire - Lauda
ESPNF1 Staff
August 10, 2011
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Niki Lauda does not buy into Michael Schumacher's relaxed demeanour © Sutton Images
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Niki Lauda does not think Michael Schumacher will make a success of his comeback and suspects the Mercedes driver will retire if he is honest with himself about the situation.
Lauda made a comeback of his own in 1982, after two years out of the sport, and went on to win his third title in 1984. However, when he finished tenth in the championship and 59 points behind his McLaren team-mate Alain Prost the following year, he took the decision to retire.
In an interview in the September issue of Motor Sport magazine, Lauda drew comparisons between his 1985 season and Schumacher's current situation.
"I have always been a big supporter of Michael's comeback - because I did it, and I know what it's all about," Lauda told Motor Sport. "Last year we understood he needed time to get used to these different cars, plus the handicap of not being able to test and all the rest of it. I felt that this year was the last chance for the comeback to happen properly if it was going to - and this year is the same as last…"
But after an Italian newspaper reported that Schumacher was questioning his future at Mercedes earlier this week, his manager Sabine Kehm retaliated by saying the German was as committed as ever.
"He is full of passion for the project and regards it as an exciting challenge to build something big together with Mercedes," she told Bild. "That it is sometimes tough only encourages him more. Someone who will soon celebrate their 20th anniversary in Formula One knows that perseverance is what makes the difference."
But Lauda does not believe it will all come good for Schumacher and suspects that he is not as relaxed about the situation as he appears to be.
"I think every sportsman - if he wants to perform as well as Schumacher did in the past - has to be honest with himself," Lauda added. "He has kept saying that he needs more time, blah, blah, blah, and he presents himself as the relaxed guy who's really enjoying it - but inside he's not relaxed at all, because no top racing driver enjoys being beaten. If he really were as relaxed as he claims to be, then Mercedes should tell him to retire!
"You don't do Formula One for fun. In the end he has to ask himself, 'Can I do it or not?' I honestly don't think it will work out for Michael now: when you want to go quicker, you try everything - and when you've tried everything and you still don't make it, that's it. I'm sure he's still trying, but one day he will realise that he can't make it, and then he will take a decision."
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well said rao it's abs true ..... i m big fan of schumi and like also returned to f1 just for hime. i loved seeing him winning and still love hime fighting for mid field he is still d best
Posted byWhat's all the fuss about Michael Schumacher's second F1 stint?? He's driving the best possible in the car he's been given so whether it's a youngster or someone with Schumacher's experience as long as he's getting the most from the car isn't that, all that matters?? So, why all this criticism?? I mean, the more I see people criticizing him the more flattering it is to him because he's showing them something- he's showing that, despite being the best driver in the world (statistically for some) he's able to STILL mix it with drivers less than half his age! This not only say's something for his passion for the sport that's given him so much but also is great for F1 in general! I myself returned to F1 to see him drive and now follow every race and so have many of my friends. Even people who weren't fans of Michael are now rooting for him! What does this say? It says that, as individuals we pursue what is true to our own self and that's all that matters. Race on Michael we still love you!
Posted bywhat made ferrari win 5 titles is not their genuis engineers it is just the effort of micheal shumacher when he used to do lot of testing to improve the car performance all the critisizers of shumacher dont read the news do they know between the top teams that mercedes is the team who have the lower number of crew while red bull have the biggest crew . do they know that micheal retiered this year twice because of a mechanical problem ( monaco and hungary) do the critisizers of shumacher know that the best guy who wins places in the starting grid departure this year is micheal shumacher do the critisizers of shumacher know that during the race comparing lap by lap time between nico and micheal when they dont have traffic in front of them micheal is consistenly 0.4 second faster on the same lap do critisizers know that in the pit of mercedes the priority is always for nico just watch the last race the first change be real people
Posted byIt's funny how people like Lauda, Jordan... are always saying he should quit etc. But you never hear ANYONE that's actually IN the paddock say something like that. - Michael loves racing, he's doing the best he can with his car. - Nico beats him in quali alot. But Michael is on par in racing-trim imo. Though he isn't a midfield-racer. Everything or nothing for him. The purest of racer. That's why he will never yield, even when risks are high. - Mercedes are happy with him, Brawn is, Haug is... And why wouldn't they be? He's not making a fool of himself. Going on the limit each time. And a huge positive impact on the team. - He is good for F1. Showing that age does not mather, fighting spirit does! And he brings in substantial money with advertising etc. - Fans. He still has huge amounts of them. They love what he's doing. So yeah, it's always the ex-F1 man that has to have his say, not the actual F1. So: retire and shut up, or go out there and race. Go Michael. I love it.
Posted byAmaludi, you are right,... every driver needs to have the perfect package, factory, car, team, and so on, just fo example: look at the current Lotus drivers Heikki and Jarno,--they both won races already few years ago, with a competitive car and perfect package, and now....!! give Nico and Michael a perfect car, then we can discuss again!
Posted bywell, if he does not have a problem being humiliated.....he should stay for as long as he needs
Posted byall the car is fit to do is finish 7th r 8th. i think if he had a car that was on a par with the top teams and wouldnt burn its tyres off after 10 laps he would he would win races . a championship wont happen. yes he dose tend to be a little to eager to hold on to a posisition but thats showing the fights still in him. anyhow look at hamilton earlier in the season when he was in the midfield. there wasnt a driver he didnt hit at some point in the space of 3 or 4 races. bottom line...... if u dont have a good car......dosnt matter who you are.....you wont win. every expects shumi to win......and he will again...... brawn will get him and nico a car that will win......watch this space
Posted byBridgestone never made tyres to suit Michael Schumacher, a lot of the bridgestone testing was done by Ferrari and because of this, Bridgestone tyre behaviours were then accomated for the ferrari chassis. but the same tyre was given to all bridgestone runners. Anyone pleease answer these two questions.... 1) Is Sebastian Vettel or Lewis Hamilton capable of Pole/Winning a race with the current Mercedes Car.? 2) Is Michael Schumacher capable of winning a race using this years Red Bull / Mclaren ? Both answers are obvious. Also note that Lauda raced a Ferrari which had a huge hp advantage compared to the rest of the grid in an era where aero and computers were not really developed and therefore, not given importance. That advantage in todays terms is like having 200hp KERS on every lap.
Posted byJust think of what Nico said "No one could win with my car"...
Posted byMicheal Schumacher, will be back, give him a good car, we will see the Old Schumacher winning again.I feel he still has the passion and F1 is all about teaming / combination..