Schumi: Comeback decision was emotional

Wednesday 4th November 2009

Michael Schumacher admits his decision to agree to make a Formula One comeback earlier this year was based on emotion rather than rationale.

Seven-times World Champion Schumacher accepted a request from Ferrari to replace the injured Felipe Massa for the remainder of the 2009 season, but a neck injury forced him to call off his return.

"It wasn't really a rational decision, it was an emotional decision, which, at the time, I thought 'why not, it's part-time, it could be funny,'" the German told reporters in Beijing.

"Having the meeting with him (Luca Di Montezemolo) I looked at all the points, in particular that it was Felipe, who is like a brother to me. Part of the reason I retired was to hand over the car to him because he deserved to stay in a team with a top car.

"So taking the fact that it was him, having the accident, having to suffer, it was very easy to convince myself, so I finally said 'yes, I will try'."

Your Comments

TiTi_Nyo

"Spoedvraat, you must be suffering from a case of paranoia?"

corbs

"A fair question pulse. As we're talking yesteryear - I'll say Juan Fangio. He won 5 WDC's and was regarded as a great sportsman as well. I agree that most drivers may have taken someone off at some point in time accidentally - but not repeatedly side swipe other drivers. Of the current crop, I'll say Hamilton is up there but not the best - in fact each of the top tier have their faults. Alonso is very good - best, I don't know...Kimi....top tier...etc.."

pulse

"Corbs - I have a quick question? who is the best then as most of the drivers of the past have taken someone off to win a race or generally put someone in a situation they shouldnt have. I am sure they have all cheated in one way or another too... so tell me.. who you think the best driver in the world is?"

beekayzai

"Stormwarning. Why do we have to take everything to heart man. people make mistakes all the time. That could be termed as a competitive spirit as well. The cheating bit I mean. As far as the contractual obligations go, I have not been previlaged enough to view the contract, so I guess you must be right about it if you have some kind of inside info. Otherwise as far as Schumi's talent is concerned, i dont think anybody can deny it, unless we say that he has won every damn race through cheating. If you refer to the honest opinions of Schumi's team mates, lets refer to Eddie Irvine's statement after he left Ferrari when he referred to Michael as a constant Hammer. In eddie's worde "No matter how much you up your game, Michael will still be able to beat you, the pressure you feel as his team mate is like having a constant hammer on you head" something like that. i ll have to pull out the article from my archives. Eddie Irvine was the only driver who was 2nd best on the grid. Barrichello, for instance, was never the second best driver on the grid. My friend, there is never a case of contractual number 2s. It all the press. For once, we should respect the person's competitiveness. The whole world cheats at what they do. Who else will you complain about. "

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