Darren Heath's blog on Michael Schumacher post-Singapore 2012 [split]

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.darrenhea...ow-when-fold-em

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.darrenhea...ow-when-fold-em

Darren Heath? I dont need to read it. The man is very Anti Schumacher infact his passion other than photographs is to hate Schumacher. The man is sad.

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.darrenhea...ow-when-fold-em

Must be frustrating for him watching all those cars from so close yet unable to drive one . Although i must admit, i would love his job.
I get the feeling some where down the years Schumacher did tick him off. His hatred for Schumacher is quite nauseating

Must be frustrating for him watching all those cars from so close yet unable to drive one . Although i must admit, i would love his job.
I get the feeling some where down the years Schumacher did tick him off. His hatred for Schumacher is quite nauseating

He is your typical British Schumacher hater who can not cope with the fact he won 7 championships and trys to dismiss them by claiming he rarely drove a legal car in his F1 career. Articles like that anger me. You wont see anyone work harder for a championship than Micheal did in 2000

DH is nothing but a Schumacher hater and always has been. So nothing new there.

He is your typical British Schumacher hater who can not cope with the fact he won 7 championships and trys to dismiss them by claiming he rarely drove a legal car in his F1 career. Articles like that anger me. You wont see anyone work harder for a championship than Micheal did in 2000

He does show a lot of spite towards Schumacher. Since both are involved in the same sport, something would have happened between them. Criticism about a driver is acceptable to a certain level and should be there. An F1 fan should be able to see both sides of a story, but all i had to read is a few sentences in that article to understand that it was written with some sort of personal agenda.

Edited by penta1998, 26 September 2012 - 18:22.

He does show a lot of spite towards Schumacher. Since both are involved in the same sport, something would have happened between them. Criticism about a driver is acceptable to a certain level and should be there. An F1 fan should be able to see both sides of a story, but all i had to read is a few sentences in that article to understand that it was written with some sort of personal agenda.

Comparing him to Lance Armstrong who get his titles stripped was out of order. Its nothing more than a pesonal attack.

He is your typical British Schumacher hater who can not cope with the fact he won 7 championships and trys to dismiss them by claiming he rarely drove a legal car in his F1 career.

That's what's great, too bad the haters will have to deal with the record books for eternity. Those titles and wins aren't going anywhere, people just love to try and break down the best.

Comparing him to Lance Armstrong who get his titles stripped was out of order. Its nothing more than a pesonal attack.

I stopped reading that article long before that i guess. It has to be personal. I mean for example if it were a news article, the motivation to write extremely negative/positive about Schumacher (or anyone for that matter) would be the number of visitors/hits etc. In this case if its about visitors to see his photographs his visitors would be interested in them anyway.

Edited by penta1998, 26 September 2012 - 18:30.

I stopped reading that article long before that i guess. It has to be personal. I mean for example if it were a news article, the motivation to write extremely negative/positive about Schumacher (or anyone for that matter) would be the number of visitors/hits etc. In this case if its about visitors to see his photographs his visitors would be interested in them anyway.

That chump should stick to photography.

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.darrenhea...ow-when-fold-em

Yeah, this Darren Heath guy is pathetic...
Don't even bother reading that BS.

I haven't read any of his other blogs, but for one so close to the action i'm sure he will have many interesting things to write. But unfortunately he chooses to write about Schumacher. I mean haven't we already had a good amount to read about Schumacher - good/bad

Yeah, this Darren Heath guy is pathetic...
Don't even bother reading that BS.

As I thought, bitter British trying to undermine Schumacher's epic achievements. Write little men, write! Maybe you can make everyone forget about 7 titles, keep trying!

The fact that darren heath is known more for being an unwelcome mouthpiece than a photographer (unlike say Sutton) tells you all you need to know about this sour little man.

Comparing him to Lance Armstrong who get his titles stripped was out of order. Its nothing more than a pesonal attack.

So, everyone who thinks Lance´s achievents in his sport worth nothing, is automatically an idiot, Lance´s hater, senile (if you are older enough to know a lot about te sport), etc?


Personally i agree with many MS´s fans here. There´s no point asking for Ms´s retirement when it is clear (at least for me) he can drive at the same level as many other drivers (i don´t mean the top guys). Also i think it is nonsense to use his last mistake (quite a big one) as a proof of his lack of ability. But still i respect others opinions.

What you can´t or you shouldn´t deny is that there was/is a great amount of people (especially those involved in Motorsports) who had anormous doubts regarding Michael´s skills when confronted with his numbers (7 WDC´s and 93 wins).

Why? Because, unlike the vast majority of people here, many has raced him, know him as a driver and know HOW he got his wins and titles.

Note, the above posts were originally in the Michael Schumacher thread, I have split the thread.

So, everyone who thinks Lance´s achievents in his sport worth nothing, is automatically an idiot, Lance´s hater, senile (if you are older enough to know a lot about te sport), etc?


Personally i agree with many MS´s fans here. There´s no point asking for Ms´s retirement when it is clear (at least for me) he can drive at the same level as many other drivers (i don´t mean the top guys). Also i think it is nonsense to use his last mistake (quite a big one) as a proof of his lack of ability. But still i respect others opinions.

What you can´t or you shouldn´t deny is that there was/is a great amount of people (especially those involved in Motorsports) who had anormous doubts regarding Michael´s skills when confronted with his numbers (7 WDC´s and 93 wins).

Why? Because, unlike the vast majority of people here, many has raced him, know him as a driver and know HOW he got his wins and titles.

Other drivers are bitter because they were smoked by Schumacher for 15 years. British journalists are bitter because every driver from England was smoked for 15 years. I bet it had to get kinda annoying to write about one man simply anihilating the competition for so long.

Oh well, too bad.

By the way, he got his titles through immense skill and unparalled work ethic, that much is obvious.

I'm a big Darren Heath fan and he is a big inspiration to me as a hobbyist motorsport photographer but the man tweets and has now started to blog nothing but bitter/angry cr@p. Anybody else see his tweets claiming 9/11 was an inside job? I mean, really?!?

Anyway, to the point, shuey's comeback hasn't gone the way he would of wanted but anybody taking any notice will have seen he has been making slow but steady progress since 2010. Sure he's ran into the back of a few people but show me a driver who hasn't done that in the last 2 1/2 years? Theres not many. Personally i'd like shumi to retire purely to freshen the place up a little and have a few driver moves but its very harsh to say he's completely past it.

Also, Darren is a very smart guy (believe it or not) and i suspect he has alternate motives behind blog posts like this, ultimately it just spreads his name about even more and might get him more work here and there. (Although i don't think Mercedes will be calling anytime soon!) Photographers need blogs to promote themselves, they're putting words onto the internet which is what people search for with google etc, just posting pictures will result in minimal blog "hits". As an italian-american mafia guy might say, its just business.

Anybody else see his tweets claiming 9/11 was an inside job? I mean, really?!?

No, thanks for posting though. Confirms the guy is a moron.

Pretty much spot on by DH.

He should probably write blogs about photography instead. I mean, really, he is not a reporter, he's a photographer.

Ok I feel the tone of the article is a bit harsh but doesn't he have a point? Schumacher is embarrassing himself the longer he goes on and its time for him to call it quits surely.

Also there's no doubt that in terms of talent, skill, hard-work etc then he's up there with the best but there's no doubt also that there were more than a few shady episodes in his career as Heath points out.

I don't disagree with Darren's blog one bit. Schumacher is washed up in his second career.... Known for being a hack with the illegal benneton and also the fast and fancy red car whose team mate pulled over for him in the first career.... True again LOL.


F1 was a sham in the early 2000's, the turning point to something exciting I think was 2005 thanks to Alonso and Kimi. Since then the racing has been off the hook. Then 2007 happened and now f1 is

He is your typical British Schumacher hater who can not cope with the fact he won 7 championships and trys to dismiss them by claiming he rarely drove a legal car in his F1 career. Articles like that anger me. You wont see anyone work harder for a championship than Micheal did in 2000

Well said!

I'm a big Darren Heath fan and he is a big inspiration to me as a hobbyist motorsport photographer but the man tweets and has now started to blog nothing but bitter/angry cr@p. Anybody else see his tweets claiming 9/11 was an inside job? I mean, really?!?

Anyway, to the point, shuey's comeback hasn't gone the way he would of wanted but anybody taking any notice will have seen he has been making slow but steady progress since 2010. Sure he's ran into the back of a few people but show me a driver who hasn't done that in the last 2 1/2 years? Theres not many. Personally i'd like shumi to retire purely to freshen the place up a little and have a few driver moves but its very harsh to say he's completely past it.

Also, Darren is a very smart guy (believe it or not) and i suspect he has alternate motives behind blog posts like this, ultimately it just spreads his name about even more and might get him more work here and there. (Although i don't think Mercedes will be calling anytime soon!) Photographers need blogs to promote themselves, they're putting words onto the internet which is what people search for with google etc, just posting pictures will result in minimal blog "hits". As an italian-american mafia guy might say, its just business.

haha that just seals the deal

Edited by Mandzipop, 26 September 2012 - 19:39.
Bad language he is a twat

Some of his comments seem about right, but it is true, he should stick to what he knows best, He's suffering from over exposure, a terrible thing for a snapper.

sadly a bunch of schumis wins and title where in a cheating car, 94 and maybe 95.

the ferrari years are a better period to remmber

Sounds like something I'd write on here. I agree with a lot of it but I don't have a reputation to uphold, he's allowed his opinion and he doesn't have to hide it. Fair play to him, don't like his point of view don't read it.

I don't disagree with Darren's blog one bit. Schumacher is washed up in his second career.... Known for being a hack with the illegal benneton and also the fast and fancy red car whose team mate pulled over for him in the first career.... True again LOL.


F1 was a sham in the early 2000's, the turning point to something exciting I think was 2005 thanks to Alonso and Kimi. Since then the racing has been off the hook. Then 2007 happened and now f1 is

Sorry but Micheal would of won his championships regardless if his team mates had pulled over for him or not. There was certinly nothing Illegal with his Benetton in 95 or his Ferrari in 2000. His best 2 championship wins in my opinion.

I am not denying he has been involved in some dark moments. However non of them have ever contributed to winning his titles infact one could argue he lost titles because of his bad side. 97 incident and Monaco 06 incident both of which i admit Micheal was at fault.

I am also not going to deny Michael has made some stupid mistakes this year one a rookie would make. However Mercedes have still let him down more in 2012 then he has let them down.

Edited by Massa_f1, 26 September 2012 - 20:33.

The problem I have with the article is it's easy to be jumping on the bandwagon after an awful race with a silly mistake, had he written it after say Belgium it would have come across as a little bit more respectful and dare I say less "personally directed".

However, it is written by someone who frankly if he were to put the same thing down here would be sanctioned for trolling, he has a known history of dislike for Schumacher and it's clear that like some other unfortunate journalists & posters he merely waits for a "down weekend" to jump in and cast aspersions against all aspects of Schumachers career. The agenda is obvious unfortunately and that detracts from what could have been a solid piece of writing. There is no need to bring up anything from 91-06, deal with the 3 year return, and yes, 2010 he got slapped silly, sometimes in 2011 he showed good signs and in 2012 the general consensus has been he's been up to & maybe better on more occasions than his reasonably highly rated team-mate.

In fact, it's been mentioned here that this season despite NR winning his 1st race, his stock is significantly lower because he's only on a par with a 43yr old relic!

Maybe I should go back and check his blog for entries about Canada 2008 - god knows what he'd have made of that race and the driving errors by 2 drivers both much younger than MS is.

Poorly directed, poorly timed and woefully personal imo. Could do much better would be my report card for him.

PS: Does anyone know if Ron Dennis is speaking to him yet?

The problem I have with the article is it's easy to be jumping on the bandwagon after an awful race with a silly mistake, had he written it after say Belgium it would have come across as a little bit more respectful and dare I say less "personally directed".

However, it is written by someone who frankly if he were to put the same thing down here would be sanctioned for trolling, he has a known history of dislike for Schumacher and it's clear that like some other unfortunate journalists & posters he merely waits for a "down weekend" to jump in and cast aspersions against all aspects of Schumachers career. The agenda is obvious unfortunately and that detracts from what could have been a solid piece of writing. There is no need to bring up anything from 91-06, deal with the 3 year return, and yes, 2010 he got slapped silly, sometimes in 2011 he showed good signs and in 2012 the general consensus has been he's been up to & maybe better on more occasions than his reasonably highly rated team-mate.

In fact, it's been mentioned here that this season despite NR winning his 1st race, his stock is significantly lower because he's only on a par with a 43yr old relic!

Maybe I should go back and check his blog for entries about Canada 2008 - god knows what he'd have made of that race and the driving errors by 2 drivers both much younger than MS is.

Poorly directed, poorly timed and woefully personal imo. Could do much better would be my report card for him.

Well said. This man is a coward who jumped in with the crowd to kick a legend while he is down.

The problem I have with the article is it's easy to be jumping on the bandwagon after an awful race with a silly mistake, had he written it after say Belgium it would have come across as a little bit more respectful and dare I say less "personally directed".

However, it is written by someone who frankly if he were to put the same thing down here would be sanctioned for trolling, he has a known history of dislike for Schumacher and it's clear that like some other unfortunate journalists & posters he merely waits for a "down weekend" to jump in and cast aspersions against all aspects of Schumachers career. The agenda is obvious unfortunately and that detracts from what could have been a solid piece of writing. There is no need to bring up anything from 91-06, deal with the 3 year return, and yes, 2010 he got slapped silly, sometimes in 2011 he showed good signs and in 2012 the general consensus has been he's been up to & maybe better on more occasions than his reasonably highly rated team-mate.

In fact, it's been mentioned here that this season despite NR winning his 1st race, his stock is significantly lower because he's only on a par with a 43yr old relic!

Maybe I should go back and check his blog for entries about Canada 2008 - god knows what he'd have made of that race and the driving errors by 2 drivers both much younger than MS is.

Poorly directed, poorly timed and woefully personal imo. Could do much better would be my report card for him.

PS: Does anyone know if Ron Dennis is speaking to him yet?

http://www.darrenhea...grand-prix-2008

No comment made. I do wonder what kind of penalty Lewis and Nico would get now... certainly the most memorable/dumbest event in F1 since I started watching.

Heath's been a strange one since the mid 90's. I think he wrote an F1 Racing article some years ago explaining why he dislikes Schumacher, and I can't remember the crux of it, but I think it was a trivial as not staying long during a photo shoot and leaving Darren with a cold feeling. In fact it might have been the Schumacher special in 06... need to dig it up and check.

http://www.darrenhea...nishing-returns

Upon Michael's return he wrote something utterly daft about Michael cosying up to Seb to steal some of his 'yoof' back...

Edited by CSF, 26 September 2012 - 20:18.

I'm a big Darren Heath fan and he is a big inspiration to me as a hobbyist motorsport photographer but the man tweets and has now started to blog nothing but bitter/angry cr@p. Anybody else see his tweets claiming 9/11 was an inside job? I mean, really?!?

Anyway, to the point, shuey's comeback hasn't gone the way he would of wanted but anybody taking any notice will have seen he has been making slow but steady progress since 2010. Sure he's ran into the back of a few people but show me a driver who hasn't done that in the last 2 1/2 years? Theres not many. Personally i'd like shumi to retire purely to freshen the place up a little and have a few driver moves but its very harsh to say he's completely past it.

Also, Darren is a very smart guy (believe it or not) and i suspect he has alternate motives behind blog posts like this, ultimately it just spreads his name about even more and might get him more work here and there. (Although i don't think Mercedes will be calling anytime soon!) Photographers need blogs to promote themselves, they're putting words onto the internet which is what people search for with google etc, just posting pictures will result in minimal blog "hits". As an italian-american mafia guy might say, its just business.

Wow!... always respected his integrity... now I have mad respect!

...and he is spot on about MS damaging an already tarnished legacy.... think about it - why is it that MS with all his stats is almost never listed as the best ever driver?? ... clearly, there is a bit of the story that is going unsaid by the commentators and insiders.

Heath's Twitter feed is a constant stream of unhappiness, I had to unfollow the guy, and I have no intention of reading this opinion although I agree with the broader point that Schumacher should retire.

Edited by Disgrace, 26 September 2012 - 20:21.

...and he is spot on about MS damaging an already tarnished legacy.....

Actually I do agree with some of that, but why did he feel it necessary to bring up the so-called "negatives" from career 1? I often wonder what people would have said about Senna and his way of "track justice", somewhere in his death certain events seem to have been swept away and MS charged as the original dirty driver! The whole article just smacked of going above & beyond just because he could.

Ignoring the obvious Lance Armstrong slant... when he came back and finished 3rd & then 10th (<- Maybe?) most were not critical, they simply understood a mans need to engage in the sporting battle. The surge of adrenaline that only sport gives them can often pull them back or prolong a career that some write off.

How many boxers come back from retirement seeking further glory? Some do it because they're broke, some do it for the attention, some do it for the love of the sport. Joe Louis, Muhammed Ali, George Foreman, Vitali Klitschko, & now Ricky Hatton are all linked by comebacks to much varying degrees of success. Do any of them tarnish their legacy?

Hell, Paul Scholes unretired for Man Utd and was even considered for the England squad by journalists who could & should really know better.

Legacy really shouldn't be hurt by staying too long, it's the full stop on the story of a career, it doesn't define the career.

I'm a big Darren Heath fan and he is a big inspiration to me as a hobbyist motorsport photographer but the man tweets and has now started to blog nothing but bitter/angry cr@p. Anybody else see his tweets claiming 9/11 was an inside job? I mean, really?!?

I think it's unnecessary to spank Heath over 9/11 comments. Let's put it like this, there are lot more people who believe that than in UFO's in Arizona and staged moon landings. Tweet to Heath about his evidence for it instead of slagging him off here is all I can say.

As for Schumacher, well it's time to retire.

Anyone who holds that bitter an opinion on a man who's done no personal wrong to them is a fool. Heath is living in fantasy land.

Edited by D.M.N., 27 September 2012 - 08:31.
Remove "just like many 'fans'/haters here" - baiting

I'm a big Darren Heath fan and he is a big inspiration to me as a hobbyist motorsport photographer but the man tweets and has now started to blog nothing but bitter/angry cr@p. Anybody else see his tweets claiming 9/11 was an inside job? I mean, really?!?

Anyway, to the point, shuey's comeback hasn't gone the way he would of wanted but anybody taking any notice will have seen he has been making slow but steady progress since 2010. Sure he's ran into the back of a few people but show me a driver who hasn't done that in the last 2 1/2 years? Theres not many. Personally i'd like shumi to retire purely to freshen the place up a little and have a few driver moves but its very harsh to say he's completely past it.

Also, Darren is a very smart guy (believe it or not) and i suspect he has alternate motives behind blog posts like this, ultimately it just spreads his name about even more and might get him more work here and there. (Although i don't think Mercedes will be calling anytime soon!) Photographers need blogs to promote themselves, they're putting words onto the internet which is what people search for with google etc, just posting pictures will result in minimal blog "hits". As an italian-american mafia guy might say, its just business.

Can you show me this tweet? Very interested to hear what he said about that.

Edited by GAZF1nut, 26 September 2012 - 21:03.

Can I just say that I'm British and I'm not a Schumacher hater? It seems to be in vogue to tar us all with the same brush at the moment, which is just as petty as hating a driver. I don't doubt that there are Brits who hate drivers, but every country has them.

Can I just say that I'm British and I'm not a Schumacher hater? It seems to be in vogue to tar us all with the same brush at the moment, which is just as petty as hating a driver. I don't doubt that there are Brits who hate drivers, but every country has them.

ha ha I am a british and Schumacher is my favorite of all time. I aimed my previous comment at the British media, because its true.

Ok I feel the tone of the article is a bit harsh but doesn't he have a point? Schumacher is embarrassing himself the longer he goes on and its time for him to call it quits surely.

Also there's no doubt that in terms of talent, skill, hard-work etc then he's up there with the best but there's no doubt also that there were more than a few shady episodes in his career as Heath points out.

Okay, you have a point. And you made it fairly, concisely and in a balanced manner. I don't think anyone has a problem with that. Do I agree with you think he's embarrassing himself? No but I'm sure we could sit down the pub together and discuss it.

The difference with that article is it's in no way balanced, has an agenda and is the worst kind of trolling, indeed unlike you and I down the pub having a nice chat and debating I'm sure this guy would get a punch in the face if he acted the way he writes.

Can I just say that I'm British and I'm not a Schumacher hater? It seems to be in vogue to tar us all with the same brush at the moment, which is just as petty as hating a driver. I don't doubt that there are Brits who hate drivers, but every country has them.

I don't think it's the case now but at the time, particularly the DH and MS years the Brits HATED MS But that's the way it goes in the UK. I remember MS being vilified at Silverstone once, people screaming obscenities. Rarely see that kind of thing at other tracks. Wasn't there a time he had to hide in a toilet at Silverstone or something?

But that kind of thing happens, especially when the Brits get behind a team or sports person, look at players in the Prem who are hated, eg Ronaldo.

Today I think MS has plenty of English fans and is well respected over here.

I am not denying he has been involved in some dark moments. However non of them have ever contributed to winning his title

He gooned Hill to win the WDC! Did you miss that?

I must confess that I was a huge MS hater back in the day when he was winning left and right but after his first retirement I started to warm up to him and felt that something important was missing in F1
You must be either stupid or blind to say that someone just won 7 titles because of luck or because he was a cheater , I mean there is the chance that MS had cheat on occasion but most of his winning was due to his ultra competiviness and hard working effort and to deny that is just simply stupid
As for DH , what can I say , this is the guy who change opinions about a driver as he changes lenses on his camera , not long ago when Alonso first joined Ferrari he used to blog his tirades against the Spaniard just because he was spanking Massa , and now two years later he is all love and compliments towards the double WDC , so I take his opinion with a grain of Salt , I agree with him tho that it is probably the time for MS to retire for good

It's curious how much people who have a history of not having favourable views of Schumacher seem to worry about his 'legacy' and career statistics.

It's curious how much people who have a history of not having favourable views of Schumacher seem to worry about his 'legacy' and career statistics.

Perhaps because people fundamentally dislike cheaters and poor sportsmanship, and don't like to see the undeserving accepting accolades they have not earned?

I must confess that I was a huge MS hater back in the day when he was winning left and right but after his first retirement I started to warm up to him and felt that something important was missing in F1
You must be either stupid or blind to say that someone just won 7 titles because of luck or because he was a cheater , I mean there is the chance that MS had cheat on occasion but most of his winning was due to his ultra competiviness and hard working effort and to deny that is just simply stupidAs for DH , what can I say , this is the guy who change opinions about a driver as he changes lenses on his camera , not long ago when Alonso first joined Ferrari he used to blog his tirades against the Spaniard just because he was spanking Massa , and now two years later he is all love and compliments towards the double WDC , so I take his opinion with a grain of Salt , I agree with him tho that it is probably the time for MS to retire for good

Perhaps because people fundamentally dislike cheaters and poor sportsmanship, and don't like to see the undeserving accepting accolades they have not earned?

What does that have to do with 'worrying' about the stats and legacy? I could understand if they questioned them and were indeed happy that the legacy was being tarnished but to worry that this was happening? Seems a bit strange. Happens a lot though.

Perhaps because people fundamentally dislike cheaters and poor sportsmanship, and don't like to see the undeserving accepting accolades they have not earned?

I wonder how you view Senna then?

Perhaps because people fundamentally dislike cheaters and poor sportsmanship, and don't like to see the undeserving accepting accolades they have not earned?

again 90% of his achievements did not happen because he cheated. Yes he tried to take JV out in 97 he paid the price. Same in Monaco in 06. Australia 94. Was Damons own fault in my opinon and people will argue about that until the end of time. Even if you exclude 94. That is still 6 world championships which he won fair and square.

Edited by Massa_f1, 26 September 2012 - 21:50.