14 replies to this topic

[Tarzaan]

According to german sources (Bild) Lotus askes Schumi (Michael) to drive the lotus on the last  races.

 

According to an other german source (die Welt) Schumi said NO.

 

Shame, because that would be awesome...

 

Sources:

 

http://www.bild.de/s...85656.bild.html

 

http://www.welt.de/s...nen-Ersatz.html

 

 

http://sportgeza.hu/...ta_kimi_helyen/

Edited by Tarzaan, 13 November 2013 - 20:42.

[Absulute]

He retired because he was too slow.  You think he'd be any faster in a car he's never driven?

[AJFIN]

He will only ever come back if he gets a car that can really win the championship and that seems very unlikely, unfortunately.

[Vesuvius]

He already said no (confirmed by various sources)

[Tarzaan]

He retired because he was too slow.  You think he'd be any faster in a car he's never driven?

 

He was not slow. Maybe he was slower than his prime, but he was still fast enough for the current grid. The Mercedes was slow.

[BRG]

 The Mercedes was slow.

Yes.  That's why Rosberg could only win one GP in it....

[redreni]

If this is true the very fact Lotus asked Schumacher about this shows how tenuous their grip on reality is these days. There‘s only a finite amount of money in the world and it would take most of it to tempt the already mega-rich and happily retired Michael Schumacher to take part in two pointless, random Grands Prix, with no time to prepare or get fit, with no chance of getting a result and basically nothing to gain. And Lotus haven‘t got any money. And given recent revelations, even if Schumacher was the slightest bit interested in doing it, he would demand payment in advance in cleared funds.

Is there nobody at Lotus trying to reign Lopez in and saying "Mr Lopez, although this is a marvellously ambitious proposal, there are a number of problems with it...."

Edited by redreni, 13 November 2013 - 21:24.

[Kingshark]

He retired because he was too slow. You think he'd be any faster in a car he's never driven?

 

Yep, Schumacher was very slow indeed. He only matched Rosberg in 2012, who is now matching Lewis Hamilton. 

[garagetinkerer]

Yep, Schumacher was very slow indeed. He only matched Rosberg in 2012, who is now matching Lewis Hamilton. 

 

 

One of the best stories that read about Schumacher was once when the team asked him to slow down... Team came back on the radio, and repeated the message and asked why he isn't following the order? He was nonplussed, and suggested that he was going slower... it turned out that he apparently was faster even when he was going slower.

 

I think it was a good decision to not come back for two races... now two seasons in a competitive car, that's another thing altogether.

[stillOrange]

Yep, Schumacher was very slow indeed. He only matched Rosberg in 2012, who is now matching Lewis Hamilton.

Maybe it's time to reevaluate opinions on Hamilton that many people hold based on his first years in F1?

Just playing Devil's advocate here so please be gentle with me.

On topic: I think it's right that he didn't take the offer. At his age I would expect him to require a little bit more time than few days to prepare himself physically for next race.
It also looks to me (and timescales would support that) that any offers were conditional to what other approached drivers said (Hulk and Heikki for example). Lotus must have offered things to a number of drivers at the same time and I'm not sure that, if given choice, they would go for Michael.

[undersquare]

I guess they were struggling to find a decent driver to jump into an unfamiliar car with no testing and humiliate himself.  Schumi has the experience and intelligence but he's too error-prone at his age, naturally, and too smart to fall for it.

 

They should have paid Kimi, or dealt openly about when they'd be able to, so I'm not feeling too sorry for them.

[Ferrari_F1_fan_2001]

Unfamiliar car + advanced age + little to no testing = disaster for any driver.

 

Schumacher is in the delightful position of having nothing to lose if he returned to F1. However, why would he???

[Shambolic]

Unfamiliar car + advanced age + little to no testing = disaster for any driver.

 

Schumacher is in the delightful position of having nothing to lose if he returned to F1. However, why would he???

 

Because we all want to see our heroes come back and do it "one more time". And another once more. And maybe have that last hurrah. Or two.

 

Look at movies - John McLaine, Rocky, Rambo, Indy - We keep wanting them back, even though at times they're far from what we remember them being. The same goes for real life greats, though I'll say in Schumacher's case he might not have been at his best, but he was certainly "good enough" last time around.

[Scotracer]

As much as I love Michael, the last 3 years hurt too much with all the bad luck that happened (and the silly mistakes). Please stay away, my heart can't take it!

[stillOrange]

Shambolic, I totally agree with you!

Michael should come back in Terminator in place of Schwarzenegger rather than in Lotus in place of Kimi.