Quote Originally Posted by ewendc2r View Post
Interesting that Schumacher is coming back -- I always had a theory that he wasn't THAT good a driver (i.e. as much as his history in F1 would indicate) that simply he was driving in a time that rewarded teams with massive budgets capable of digital wind tunnel analysis. It seemed for 2-3 years at least, Ferrari's cars were at least 1s faster than the rest of the field race pace & this was confirmed by how many 1/2 finishes they got. As soon as the rest of the field caught up with the technology etc suddenly it was a level playing field and schumacher wasn't all that good anymore, he was human again.

I personally think that there are better drivers out there than Schumacher and it was visibly demonstrated in the Mondial (sp?) I saw on tele a few times with Schumacher getting his ass handed to him by Marcus Gronholme, Lohb, some European Karting Champ & a champion of champions racer from previous years who I hadn't heard of.. Across several different events / classes / cars etc..

Anyhow -- This will really show what schumacher has & if his arrogance was/is justified. No pressure mate. Crash -- But this time don't take out anyone on purpose.
The race of champions isnt a race driver decider, put that guy who beat him in a F1 car and he wont even come close, this should give you a small indication of just how much of a great F1 driver he is, I doubt he will come first in Valencia but it wont surprise me if he did.

Records held by Michael Schumacher

* Most world titles: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)

* Most consecutive titles: 5 (2000-04)

* Most grand prix wins: 91

* Most wins in a single season: 13 (2004)

* Most consecutive wins in a single season: 7 (2004)

* Most wins at the same race: 8 (French GP)

* Most wins with one team: 72 (Ferrari)

* Most wins from pole: 40

* Most pole positions: 68

* Most front-row starts: 115

* Most podium finishes: 154

* Most second place finishes: 43

* Most points finishes: 190

* Most points scored: 1,369

* Most points in a single season: 148 (from a maximum of 180, in 2004)

* Most fastest laps: 76

* Most fastest laps in a season: 10 (from a maximum of 18, in 2004)

* Most races led: 141

* Most laps led: 5,108

* Furthest distance led in a season: 2,085 miles (2004)

* Fastest race-winning average speed: 153.843mph (2003 Italian GP)

* Most consecutive podiums: 19 (USA 2001 to Japan 2002)

* Most consecutive points finishes: 24 (Hungary 2001 to Malaysia 2003)

* Most consecutive seasons with a win: 15 (1992-2006)

* Most consecutive wins from pole (6)

* Most ‘clean sweeps’ (pole, win, fastest lap): 22

* Largest points gap between champion and runner-up: 67 (2002)

* Earliest title winner: 2002 (in July, with 6 of the 17 races remaining)

* Longest continuous spell with one team: 11 seasons (Ferrari, 1996-2006)

* Most races with same team: 162 (Ferrari)

* Most time between first and last race wins: 14 years, 1 month and 1 day

* Never outqualified by his team-mate in 1992, 1993 or 1994

* Only driver to have finished every race on the podium: 2002