Michael Schumacher retires

So it is official, Michael Schumacher will not be racing in F1 next season. Seeing as I am a big Schumi fan I am quite sad to see him leave the sport as I still believe he has a lot to offer. It is always great to see a professional leave on the top of there game and if Schumi can pull off winning the championship he truly will end at the top of his career. Lets hope he can...

So now all the papers are talking about how Schumi is the best driver of all time, while I am a Schumi fan I still have some reservation to say he was the best ever. It was Schumi who helped, in a big way, revive the Ferrari F1 team. I do how ever believe that it is not only the driver that makes himself great, but also the team that he works with. So I must pay a massive tribute to the team at Ferrari do doing such an amazing job for Schumi over the years.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened a few years ago, (when Schumi beat Kimmi by two points in the championship), if Schumi was driving an unreliable Mercedes and Kimmi was driving the ever reliable Ferrari?

The biggest question that looms is what would have happened if Senna did not die in '94?

I do believe that Schumi was very much the success behind the team, because at the end of the day he still had to go out drive well. It did show that he can be beaten in a few races, but not enough to take away the championship.

Last year when the Ferrari was not as up to standard as say the Renault, Schumi wasn't able to challenge for the championship in a big way. So Ferrari improved and this year we are seeing a very close finnish to the season (which is always exciting).

At the same time as Schumi announced his retirement, Ferrari announced what we all new was bound to happen, Kimmi will race for Ferrari next year. Ferrari have said in the past that Kimmi would be the man to replace Schumi. With Kimmi in the Ferrari next season and current champion Alonso going to the unreliable team of Mclaren Mercedes, I am going to make a prediction and say that Kimmi will win the championship.

Kimmi is a great driver (that is why they call him the "ice-man") who I believe with a solid reliable car will dominate the sport maybe even to the extent that Schumi did, and then we will see just how good the two drivers really are. Can Kimmi be that good?

So as one era ends I believe that another will begin. Schumi era is ending at the end of this season, and Kimmi era is just beginning. Schumi is the last really of all the old drivers (who matter) and next season will be relatively new bunch of guys, who have not raced more than a few years.

Next season should be interesting but I will predict the start of the era of the "flying Finn".