The moment f1 is waiting for, Schumacher and Hamilton on the podium+press conference

Their is certain gladitorial visionary aspect to being a f1 fan, you want the ideal face offs,

Senna vs Prost, Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Alonso vs Hamilton, Schumacher vs Alonso,

I think since MS left, and Hamilton had his great debut year of 2007, I was wondering just how that happened so timely, in a way building up interest, I remember fans flocking just to see Hamilton and Schumacher in the Spain test session of 2008, and when Schumacher M was doing his last test session prior to race in a GP for ferrari, Brazil 2006, it was the same test Hamilton had his first go in the Mclaren.

And we've heard over the years, especially when MS almost came back to ferrari, that if there's one driver he wanted to race against, it would be Michael.

Now alot of things may or may not happen due to car performance, but if in Bahrain Schumacher and Hamilton are going for pole, it could be very exciting, if the mclaren and mercedes are nearish in performance, and equally you would expect Hamilton relishing the opportunity to go down with MS on the first corner, Hamilton had a quieter year in 2009 due to mclaren not being as strong, but with Button in his team, he has a chance to do special things, overthrow the current champ, and work hard to do great things against Michael, what possible racing could we get, I remember fans eagerness after Brazil 2001, once Montoya did that move on Michael in the Senna S, people wanted Montoya vs Schumacher, and Montoya's obession with Schumi was kinda entertaining, Montoya knew he was racing against a legend on track, and he wanted to be apart of the story, the only problem though Montoya wasn't consistently great and didn't improve to a point where he was upholding the hype.


There's alot of great action potentially if ferrari, mercedes and mclaren are going for wins, and alot of young drivers wanting to go well against MS, even Alonso it hasn't been the same without Michael. I think everyone is dreaming of a Hamilton vs Schumacher title fight, we haven't seen it, alot of respect there, be interesting to see if their friends in a Hakkinen type way, or if a future possible event makes them dislike each other, who knows, there's alot of new drivers as well MS has to go against.



Of cource if Mclaren and or Mercedes have car issues, we won't see it, but hopefully everyone is pretty competitive.

2010 can go many ways, maybe we'll get the season we want in 2010 or we have to wait to 2011, f1 can always bring up unexpected things.

Edited by SeanValen, 27 January 2010 - 22:46.

Lets just hope Michael doesn't push himself beyond his capabilities trying to keep up with Lewis. This is when terrible accidents can occur.

I think F1 is waiting for Schumacher Vs Vettel on the podium IMHO.
Schumacher v Hamilton will certainly be interesting though if it goes down to the wire nonetheless.

I think F1 is waiting for Schumacher Vs Vettel on the podium IMHO.
Schumacher v Hamilton will certainly be interesting though if it goes down to the wire nonetheless.

But you have to think about the casual viewer as well,

Vettel isn't a champion yet and still have things to prove, his potential to achieve that is there, but in terms of world wide exposure. Vettel's personality is not geared for the star status, maybe too nice to get noticed, he's the type of driver who just gets lost within the other names, he's a f1 fanatic's driver rather then a house hold future name. He's not unique enough, in the same way Alonso is more of a young replica of Schuey with a more recluse life, it's not interesting enough to the world. When I'm selecting the ultimate duel, I'm thinking about the press, casual f1 viewers as well as serious fans like us.

Lewis Hamilton is just more popular all around, , he has helped kept interest from ardent f1 fans as well as media, and casual f1 viewers, he is the star since MS left, without Hamilton, 2007 would of been a cakewalk for Alonso, infact, 2007 could of been extremely boring hadn't mclaren took up a option on Hamilton. Alonso is a great driver, but he's extremely private and doesn't create enough interest from casual f1 fans off the track, but Hamilton does that, in terms of star quality, Hamilton is a great driver matched with star quality for the casual f1 fan as much as us fanatics.


Hamilton is very attacking as well, with the yellow helmet and all, honoring Senna and being pretty fast in quali, sort of reminding us of Senna, and missed opportunity of some Senna and Schumi duels, , Hamilton is the ideal gladiator of the young generation for the Master Schuey to compete against, it's the best possible contest for the sport. Add in Alonso and Vettel and the others as well, for 3 way fights and stuff for a good title fight collection bucket.

It might not happen in 2010, but if mclaren and mercedes do have a season with ideally competitive cars, thats going to be great, you got 3 champions in in 4 seats, Schu, Hamilon and Button and Nico hungry to prove himself as well. This is potentially great stuff.

Alonso-Massa and Ferrari is the unsual equation, there's this very motivated ferrari looking to show it's still strong without Schuey, and mount this Alonso offensive with their young looking replica of Schuey in Alonso who's arrived at ferrari as a 2 times champion just like MS did back in 1996, spookey, but interesting.

But this Mercedes vs Mclaren fight seems very fresh, Mercedes have been away for 50 years, a big name, and MS a big name back from 3 years, it's like a new beginning while resurrecting the name and history, and even MS has been dug up out of nowhere, having shocked us last year by a come back, and now he's back. There's alot of interesting things going on, on top of this is Hamilton and Schuey, 2 different personalities, styles and eras coming clashing down unexpectedly.

Edited by SeanValen, 27 January 2010 - 23:32.

Lets just hope Michael doesn't push himself beyond his capabilities trying to keep up with Lewis. This is when terrible accidents can occur.

Lets just hope Lewis doesn't try to "show him he's not going to take the Schumacher chop" the first time he gets behind him. It worries me some of these young guys may be a bit too keen to show they're not going to be pushed around and do something stupid. Schumacher isn't well known for leaving a lot of room to mess around in.

The rekindling of a Schumacher vs Alonso title fight would be highly entertaining. Their 2006 battle was intense, tensions were high: this showed through at places like Hungary, Monza, and Suzuka.

Lets just hope Michael doesn't push himself beyond his capabilities trying to keep up with Lewis. This is when terrible accidents can occur.

I wouldn't go assuming that Michael would be going beyond his capabilities to keep up with Lewis just yet.

The rekindling of a Schumacher vs Alonso title fight would be highly entertaining. Their 2006 battle was intense, tensions were high: this showed through at places like Hungary, Monza, and Suzuka.

and China il never forget Alonso's face in the press room afterwards.

I'm looking more forward to some racing or even the new Ferrari car presentation tomorrow, than some dull press conference.

But you have to think about the casual viewer as well,

Hard to do.
Yes - you're right in that regard.
Dare I say it, the promise of an Anglo / Germanic battle of pride.

The rekindling of a Schumacher vs Alonso title fight would be highly entertaining. Their 2006 battle was intense, tensions were high: this showed through at places like Hungary, Monza, and Suzuka.

While it will be great to see Lewis and Michael chop each other to pieces I think most people are more interested in the old Alonso rivalry especially with him sitting in Michael's old car!

Lets just hope Michael doesn't push himself beyond his capabilities trying to keep up with Lewis. This is when terrible accidents can occur.

what a mindless post. Schumacher has enough experience to know better. do you people ever spend a second before posting?

what a mindless post. Schumacher has enough experience to know better. do you people ever spend a second before posting?

You've obviously never raced!

and China il never forget Alonso's face in the press room afterwards.

Compared to Schuamcher's face in the Monaco qualifying press conference, it was nothing.

Welcome back, 'Kenaltgr'.
You just disappeared for quite few years until MS recently declared he would be back.

Happy MS-bashing!

It is great and exciting to see MS again regardless to whom he would compete with.

However, MS vs LH will be a plus.

I can't wait for it!

and China il never forget Alonso's face in the press room afterwards.

I remember a fantastic photograph taken from above alonso and schumacher in parc ferme. Schumacher was standing on the Ferrari's nose while Alonso was getting out of parc ferme as quick as he could. He did not even look up when getting out of his car.

Another thing that stuck in my mind from that race was Pat Symonds on the starting grid. A reporter, perhaps Martin Brundle, asked him if Renault were at all concerned about Ferrari during the race (which was wet from the start). He just laughed and replied "not a chance, they are on Bridgestones"

can't wait!

Another thing that stuck in my mind from that race was Pat Symonds on the starting grid. A reporter, perhaps Martin Brundle, asked him if Renault were at all concerned about Ferrari during the race (which was wet from the start). He just laughed and replied "not a chance, they are on Bridgestones"

and he was quite right at the start...the conditions started to improve and moved towards Bridgestone's window of performance

Lets just hope Michael doesn't push himself beyond his capabilities trying to keep up with Lewis. This is when terrible accidents can occur.

The tracks and car themsevles are fairly safe now so I cannot see anyone getting seriously hurt, forget dying. Not unless they keep the foot down on accelerator and intentionally ram into a barrier.

Edited by primer, 28 January 2010 - 11:55.

Oh yeah I can't wait to hear Hamilton gloating he beat Michael, and how this makes him the new Senna

Well I guess at this stage you can probably insert Michael vs.____________________. There are so many top level battles people would like to see. Michael vs. Lewis jumps out, the new generation against the old guard. Then there's Alonso in a Ferrari, and this takes on a special flavor due to MS's relationship with the Scuderia. Then there's Vettel(who's the best German driver, throw Nico in there as well) and Jenson(new champ against a 7 time one) Don't forget there's Felipe as well(master against protege) and then there's Rubens-the geezer of F1, who'd want to show he's still got it against his old teammate. I mean, Bernie wasn't kidding when he said Michael's return would create, possibly, the best F1 season in years. The potential for a daily soap opera has never been greater. Too bad Montoya and Kimi weren't around as welll. That would have been epic. Just a matter of time before it all plays out. One thing is for sure. With all the egos involved, there will be plenty of fireworks to come.

Edited by F1 Tor., 28 January 2010 - 14:12.

and he was quite right at the start...the conditions started to improve and moved towards Bridgestone's window of performance

But Michael was the only one who managed to overcome that handicap. The rest of the Bridgestone shod cars (and that included Williams and Toyota) moved to the back of the pack. Michael remained close enough to be able to take advantage of the Bridgestone's window (and of Alonso and/or Renault mistake of putting brand new intermediate tyres at the first pit stop).

The rekindling of a Schumacher vs Alonso title fight would be highly entertaining. Their 2006 battle was intense, tensions were high: this showed through at places like Hungary, Monza, and Suzuka.

...Monaco.

The tracks and car themsevles are fairly safe now so I cannot see anyone getting seriously hurt, forget dying. Not unless they keep the foot down on accelerator and intentionally ram into a barrier.

Henry Surtees, Felipe Massa?

...Vettel's personality is not geared for the star status..

Curious statement. I find him very similar to early 90's Schumacher.

I think there would be much more tension if Hamilton and Alonso met themselves up there frequently in the title fight.
But Hamilton and Schumacher would be nice as well. Lots of possibilities there.

Not to mention Schumacher and Barrichello.

Not to mention Schumacher and Barrichello.

If it would be Schumacher vs. Barrichello for the title then team bosses would start to hire guys who are 35+ of age like crazy for 2011. Maybe JV and Ralf would have a chance again too.

Edited by Galko877, 28 January 2010 - 14:48.

And what about Hulkenberg, ok he's a rookie but he's also managed by Willi.

Then he may have to finish behind the "other" driver Willi has on contract, no?

Edited by Frans, 28 January 2010 - 14:56.

But Michael was the only one who managed to overcome that handicap. The rest of the Bridgestone shod cars (and that included Williams and Toyota) moved to the back of the pack. Michael remained close enough to be able to take advantage of the Bridgestone's window (and of Alonso and/or Renault mistake of putting brand new intermediate tyres at the first pit stop).

It was a performance by the worlds best driver in his last win at that time, the ferrari brass had written off the win after qualifying, which even then Michael did a great lap, praised by commentators, michael was inspired to drive his last races as best as possible, massa struggled to get a point in china, Michael knew anything less then his best would not do on those tyres that day, a great race given the expectations on him, lived up the rain master tag again, probabley one of his best races, all weekend was great. Hats off to Alonso as well for making Michael push for our entertainment.

Hamilton vs Alonso vs Schumacher 2010, 3 way fight would be nice.

Curious statement. I find him very similar to early 90's Schumacher.

But whether he assumes and grows into the champion iand family man/all round professional is another tthing, but I get your point, which leads me to say,

this is the problem, too many copycat personalities, Schumacher is still around, and people want to discuss the next schumacher, then schumacher comes back anyway, so we don't need another schumacher, one is enough. Vettel needs a bit more grit, maybe a fist fight, be more like Kimi, a drunk in the offtime and fastest laps, some clubbing, get out there, get heard! at the same time not to forget to work hard with the team!

Well I guess at this stage you can probably insert Michael vs.____________________. There are so many top level battles people would like to see. Michael vs. Lewis jumps out, the new generation against the old guard. Then there's Alonso in a Ferrari, and this takes on a special flavor due to MS's relationship with the Scuderia. Then there's Vettel(who's the best German driver, throw Nico in there as well) and Jenson(new champ against a 7 time one) Don't forget there's Felipe as well(master against protege) and then there's Rubens-the geezer of F1, who'd want to show he's still got it against his old teammate. I mean, Bernie wasn't kidding when he said Michael's return would create, possibly, the best F1 season in years. The potential for a daily soap opera has never been greater. Too bad Montoya and Kimi weren't around as welll. That would have been epic. Just a matter of time before it all plays out. One thing is for sure. With all the egos involved, there will be plenty of fireworks to come.

The great thing about a montoya and kimi, they are just so different, a contrasting style and personality around the paddock,
Don't think Montoya will come back, but Kimi might, if Kimi came back in 2011, that would be cool.

Edited by SeanValen, 28 January 2010 - 15:03.

what a mindless post. Schumacher has enough experience to know better. do you people ever spend a second before posting?

ZenSpeed, you have Gilles in your avatar. How was that between him and Pironi? How was it between Senna and Schumacher in Imola 1994?

Gilles and Ayrton did not know better, by your logic. Yet there is one advantage for Michael: the cars are a zillion times safer now (vide Kubica´s accident in Montreal 2008!)

I don't get it why everyone is so excited to see Hamilton vs Schumacher. I don't see nothing special about it, I am more excited for Hamilton vs Button battle than anything else.

The only people excited about this are Hamilton fans, so they can brag about how good Hamilton is when he will beat Schumacher in some races. Yet they will forget that Schumacher is way past his best and is 41 years old, but no one will sadly remember that.

There are far better battles in 2010 than Schumi vs Hamilton.

Curious statement. I find him very similar to early 90's Schumacher.

Vettel similar to young Schumacher? In terms of personality???

I don't get it why everyone is so excited to see Hamilton vs Schumacher. I don't see nothing special about it, I am more excited for Hamilton vs Button battle than anything else.

The only people excited about this are Hamilton fans, so they can brag about how good Hamilton is when he will beat Schumacher in some races. Yet they will forget that Schumacher is way past his best and is 41 years old, but no one will sadly remember that.

There are far better battles in 2010 than Schumi vs Hamilton.

Well considering the thread was started with a (very good) long OP by an arch MS fan I think you're a mile off. I agree we have to make some allowance for Michael's age. But in their heads he and LH are the two most dominant-minded, a generation apart but equally determined and ferocious. We just need the Merc to have a slight advantage for the battle to really come alive, that's all. Any racing fan should be excited.

To a large extent we've seen Hamilton/Alonso. I think Hamilton/Vettel could also be huge this year though.

Lewis + MS = accidents waiting to happen And then Jenson or Alonso will run off with the title

I don't get it why everyone is so excited to see Hamilton vs Schumacher. I don't see nothing special about it, I am more excited for Hamilton vs Button battle than anything else.

The only people excited about this are Hamilton fans, so they can brag about how good Hamilton is when he will beat Schumacher in some races. Yet they will forget that Schumacher is way past his best and is 41 years old, but no one will sadly remember that.

There are far better battles in 2010 than Schumi vs Hamilton.

It's racing cars, not 100m sprinting. Even Lance Armstrong has been killing young cyclists which is an extremely physical sport. And Lewis only has racing for 3 season in F1 and is still very young so he's probably not at his full potential yet

edit: Watch out for the king Ronnie Coleman, he's the best bodybuilder of all time winning 8 straight Mr. Olympia titles at the age of 41+ years and he's going to make a comeback this year. And bodybuilding is also a very physical sport. ( i'm sure he'll finish in the top 3 )

Edited by Simon Says, 28 January 2010 - 16:49.

It's racing cars, not 100m sprinting. Heck even Lance Armstrong has been killing young cyclists which is an extremely physical sport. And Lewis only has racing for 3 season in F1 and is still very young so he's probably not at his full potential yet

Going by the last three years, Lewis hit his peak in 2007, in his first season. 08 and 09 he performed worse than he did in 07. I would be very surprised if he performs better than he did in 2007 ever again.

Going by the last three years, Lewis hit his peak in 2007, in his first season. 08 and 09 he performed worse than he did in 07. I would be very surprised if he performs better than he did in 2007 ever again.

Ferrari had the best car in 08 with Mclaren strugling to even beat BMW in the first half of the season and he still ended up winning the WDC in the end. His best season was 09 despite not winning the WDC. Outscoring everybody in the 2nd half of the season with a car that has no downforce, inferior to Red Bull and Brawn GP

And his qualfing lap at Abu Dhabi demonstrated how much he has improved, everybody thought Lewis had no fuel onboard because he was 0.7 seconds quicker than Vettel in his superior Red Bull .... while it was just simply a monster lap by Lewis

Vettel's personality is not geared for the star status, maybe too nice to get noticed, he's the type of driver who just gets lost within the other names

Vettel comes over as a nice and humorous chap but don't be misleaded. The guy has iron elbows.

How do you know that Hamilton will finish a race on the podium this year? Or in fact that Schumacher will? Or if they will be on the podium together. Maybe that combination will never materialize.

How do you know that Hamilton will finish a race on the podium this year? Or in fact that Schumacher will? Or if they will be on the podium together. Maybe that combination will never materialize.

and here comes the rain. 99% of these threads are about speculating what might happen or what we'd like to see. I mean, you have one valid point, we don't know if they'll be on the podium together, but lighten up man.

Edited by F1 Tor., 28 January 2010 - 17:43.

Going by the last three years, Lewis hit his peak in 2007, in his first season. 08 and 09 he performed worse than he did in 07. I would be very surprised if he performs better than he did in 2007 ever again.

Someday in his career he´ll be in the superior car and finish season with 9+ wins, it´s very very possible. Mika won half the season's 16 races back in 1998 so it´s all clear. You said Lewis hit his peak in 2007? He is in F1 for only 3 seasons, we´ll see much much more from him.

How do you know that Hamilton will finish a race on the podium this year? Or in fact that Schumacher will? Or if they will be on the podium together. Maybe that combination will never materialize.

You kidding right? They´re both driving for big teams (McLaren & Mercedes) not for underdogs (Campos, USF1, STR etc..) hell, even Force India got one podium. Last year McLaren struggled, 2,5 seconds off the pace and even after that they won 2 races and couple of podiums.

It's nice to dream (and I hope ALL of them have great cars and we get a humdinger of a championship in 2010) but we saw last year how bad things can get when the script changes. Let's hope all the top teams (SF, MGP, MM, RBR) have fast and closely matched cars so that we can see ALL those drivers going at each other lap after lap, race after race, ALL season long.

Edited by FSA, 28 January 2010 - 17:43.

Ferrari had the best car in 08 with Mclaren strugling to even beat BMW in the first half of the season and he still ended up winning the WDC in the end. His best season was 09 despite not winning the WDC. Outscoring everybody in the 2nd half of the season with a car that has no downforce, inferior to Red Bull and Brawn GP

And his qualfing lap at Abu Dhabi demonstrated how much he has improved, everybody thought Lewis had no fuel onboard because he was 0.7 seconds quicker than Vettel in his superior Red Bull .... while it was just simply a monster lap by Lewis

WOW fanboys always amaze me. Mclaren were so slow in the first half of the season, that they dominated to opening race and should have been a 1-2

Ferrari and Mclaren were equally fast, expect Mclaren had a much better car reliability than Ferrari.

In 2009 lewis was no where to be seen in the first half of the season. The reason? Car was ****.
Second half of 2009 car improved not lewis. Lewis drove the same as ever, you make sound as it was lewis that did miracles in the 2nd half of the season . If that's true, I wonder why he didn't take pole by 0.7 second in australia.

And Lewis drove very average in 09, made way to many mistakes than in 07.

Lewis drives bad = Cars fault.
Lewis drives good = Best driver ever, Car doesn't matter

Nice logic you got there mate

I just want see Hamilton and Button on the podium together.

I like Lewis and used to hate Shui but with Shui coming back, i honestly cant wait and have warmed to him. Anything that spices up F1 and makes it more interesting is good in my book.

Vettel similar to young Schumacher? In terms of personality???

Absolutely. Schumacher at Benetton 91-93, particularly. Not intimidated by anyone, no respecter of reputation, permanently sunny demeanour, not particularly media-schooled, but quite obviously highly-disciplined and tough.