Schumacher takes controversial pole [Poll]

v10 · 27-05-2006 02:12PM #1

So was it deliberate ?

from itv-f1.com:

Michael Schumacher will start from pole position in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix after pulling a stunning 1m13.898s lap out of the bag.

But the Ferrari star caused consternation among his rivals, when he appeared to lose control at La Rascasse on his final lap, partly blocking the track and ruining several drivers final flying laps.

That stop Fernando Alonso improving on his best to go second fastest ahead of a stunning performance from Williams driver Mark Webber.

v10 · 27-05-2006 02:15PM

Personally I don't think so, but then I'm biased being a fan.

whyamihere? · 27-05-2006 02:23PM

saw it live, very suspicious

OSiriS · 27-05-2006 02:26PM

I'm in 2 minds over this tbh, he has done this kind of thing before so I wouldn't put it past him. At the moment I'm thinking the problem was a mistake but he may have decided to take advantage of it and park it rather than trying to move himself.

chern0byl · 27-05-2006 02:32PM

The mistake was genuine. Im sure he did park it intentionally[to gain an advantage] but i think its a better decision than reversing on a very tight race track with cars racing at the fastest speeds they will do for the whole weekend.

Clever move by Schumi. race is his to loose now. Watch Fernando attemtping to use the Renualts TC to the fullest extent.

stever · 27-05-2006 03:24PM

I laughed as soon as I saw that knowing that it secured pole for him.

chern0byl · 27-05-2006 04:39PM

http://members.chello.hu/baranyi.eva/Schumacher.mpg

decide for yourself. I dont think he did it[parking] deliberately looking at this[i did before i seen this]

Jonny Arson · 27-05-2006 05:14PM

That link isn't working for me

I'll throw up another one here.... http://personal.inet.fi/koti/yam2/mon_2006_q3_schumacher_incar_LQ.avi

When I heard he about this I wasn't surprised at all.... you cannot put anything past the guy at all (Adelaide 94', Jerez 97') Well I decided I would be open minded, I replayed this about 20 times but I've come to the conlusion that it was deliberate.

Doesn't look like to me there's any hint of understeer on his car by watching his steering and his tyres similtaneously it looks like a perfectly good handling racecar to me. If it wasn't deliberate why did he steer left on the exit of the turn when the car was perfectly exiting the corner on the racing line in the first place???

Well the stewards aren't taking any action over it presumingly on lack of clearcut evidence. Obviously telemetary will tell whether he intended to do this, only Ferrari will have that data but I'm sure if poor Schumi is all innocent they'll sound out the critics by making the data public..... I wouldn't put any money on it though!

stever · 27-05-2006 06:13PM

Fissichella has been penalised by the stewards for blocking Coulthard so will be starting from 10th. So it looks like Schumacher won't be penalised.

OSiriS · 27-05-2006 06:23PM

http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/060527193114.shtml

It's not just we TV viewing fans that are convinced of his guilt. It sounds like half the paddock think he did it deliberately.

nanook · 27-05-2006 06:24PM

there is alot of opinions going on here. Myself i am a huge schumy fan and i will give both sides of the forum.

mistake, he is fighting for the championship and pushed too hard

deliberate, he knows exactly what he is doing, his skill to hold the car without doing any damage just shows the driver he is.

look at the footage, i have too say, fan as i am, the man is guilty

OSiriS · 27-05-2006 06:47PM

Refreshing to find a fan who doesn't believe their hero can do no wrong:)

steviec · 27-05-2006 06:50PM

I reckon it was a mistake and a half hearted attempt at recovering since he knew he'd be better off not recovering.

I wonder how many other drivers would do the same thing, if they had the presence of mind to consider the overall picture in the middle of a lock up and only had a fraction of a second to figure out what to do. He very very nearly lost his wing so it wasn't exactly pre-meditated or anything.

OSiriS · 27-05-2006 07:03PM

It's a matter of sportsmanship, I think most drivers would do their best not to inconvenience other drivers. Unfortunately Schumacher has shown twice in the past that his has no problems resorting to poor sportsmanship and down right dirty driving when there is a championship at stake. It is for this reason I am skeptical over his innocence.

Corben Dallas · 27-05-2006 08:17PM

Cheat!

There is no doubt (IMO) that he maximised what might have been a small error into a pole winning cheating maneuver. If the Stewards can dole out a penalty to Fisi for baulking DC then they can give one to Schumi. Get teh FIA to force Ferrari to release his telemantary trace from that lap.

Its yet another case of the FIA being afraid of/siding with Ferrari. They are completely spineless when Ferrari are involved, its the Indy tyre fiacso again.
(FIA sided with Bridgestone(ie>Ferrari) at the expence of the whole grid/meaningful race).

Icing on teh cake (into MSC's mindset) was the first call he makes on his radio to teh pits "what position am i in?" answer " P1" => MSC parks car neatly beside barrier in final corner bring out Yellow flags.

I hope Alonso takes him out in the first corner on Sunday.

Running Bing · 27-05-2006 08:35PM

chern0byl wrote:

Clever move by Schumi.

Clever? its bloody cheating. I have no doubt he did it on purpose(and just for the record i have nothing against schumi). Now Im not a race driver, and maybe someone with a bit more knowledge of racing could comment more accurately, but his movements behind the wheel were serious suspicious. He looked like he consciously steered it into that position putting opposite lock on when there was little chance of oversteer. Then theres the fact that one of the most assured and experienced drivers in f1 manages to spin it on one of the last corners, with so much at stake and on one of the narrowest tracks in the calender manages to hit no barriers and takes a perfect position for disrupting others laps. Also I dont think anybody, fan or otherwise, can argue that schumi isnt capable of such a thing. The guys a winner and one of the most competitive people I have come across and he wants to win at all costs.add to this his somewhat sheepish behaviour in the press conference and I can only draw one conclusion. If he did it on purpse it truly was a dreadful thing to do and he should be disciplined severely.

SouperComputer · 27-05-2006 08:43PM

OMFG thats classic, minor mistake, and took full advantage. Hilarious.

Dcully · 27-05-2006 09:12PM

lol it was so deliberate its untrue.
Blatant cheating imo.
Doesnt surprise me after Adelaide ,Jerez,its stunts like this why i cannot stand him.

OSiriS · 27-05-2006 10:30PM

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=36078

The stewards agree:)

Dcully · 28-05-2006 12:29AM

God damn cheat.
He cant beat Alonso or Kimi fair and square he resorts to cheating,no surprise really:mad:

Zascar · 28-05-2006 12:53AM

I can't believe people who think that was an honest mistake... Watch the video, a true driving 'legend' doesn't make a 'mistake' like that... Its very sad that he has to resort such measures. I think Schumacer is having a negative effect on the sport in general. He should have quit last year and ended gracefully on a high. I used to be a fan a long time ago but now he just irritates the crap out of me. After todays little performance I'm sure he's going to loose a few more fans...

steviec · 28-05-2006 04:40AM

Very very harsh decision. He should have got the same punishment as Fisichella, Fisi cost DC time just as Schumi cost Alonso time, and indeed just as multiple cars block eachother every race weekend. It was a stupid thing to do but it wasn't dangerous and certainly wasn't premeditated, drivers do stupid things when they have a split second to think how to gain an advantage when a wheel locks or whatever all the time, quite often it leads to dangerous situations and crashes and yet the penalties are rarely as severe as this.

Apart from anything else, the FIA have probably ruined chances of a great battle at the front, and quite possibly have handed Alonso the championship on a plate, destroying any interest in the entire season.

Jfla · 28-05-2006 05:43AM

There is no doubt in my mind that he did it and fair play to him for doing so it took a lot of balls to do that. Okay so its morally wrong but footballers foul each other all the time!! takes that extra bit of balls to do it in a race car though. We have seen shu do things like this in the past (Jack V in sasuka about 10 years back). He is a racer and does what he has to to win. You don't get 7 world championships under your belt without doing every thing you can

Manic Moran · 28-05-2006 06:49AM

I think Steveic is about on the right track. At worst, a 10-place penalty would do nicely, but from the American commentators reading the rules on the TV, it seems that the Stewards didn't have a choice in the matter: They could send him to the back, or do nothing, but no options in the middle.

NTM

nanook · 28-05-2006 09:03AM

Jfla wrote:

There is no doubt in my mind that he did it and fair play to him for doing so it took a lot of balls to do that. Okay so its morally wrong but footballers foul each other all the time!! takes that extra bit of balls to do it in a race car though. We have seen shu do things like this in the past (Jack V in sasuka about 10 years back). He is a racer and does what he has to to win. You don't get 7 world championships under your belt without doing every thing you can

Jfla. you have hit it on the head, there is fouls in every sport, and they are all calculated, but name me one sports person who can calculate at 100+mph on a narrow street.

He is good, maybe a cheat, but he is goooood

Running Bing · 28-05-2006 10:10AM

Im sure it takes balls and a hell of a lot of calculation to hijack an airplane but does that mean its right and we should congratulte hijackers for it? im not saying what he did is the same as hijacking a plane but tahts Jfla's logic and its bull****. The punishment is lenient if anything. Hes a bloody out and out cheat and he put the entire sport in jeapordy. And how can you compare this to a foul in football. a foul rarely alters the outcome of a game (and if it does the player is excluded from the game). Also stevie c what part of parking an f1 car on a race track where cars are going around with an average speed of 100mph is not dangerous? If another driver made a real mistake at that corner it could have been a serious accident. Hes a bloody disgrace and the only people who will stick up for him are fans which isnt surprising.

The guy cant hack it anymore and instead of going out with a bit of class and being remebered for the right things he rsorts to blatant cheating. Id rather see Alonso win every race by a mile than see cheating like that. He can go now for all I care.

Dcully · 28-05-2006 11:01AM

Cant believe some guys are congratulating and promoting cheating,ffs you call yourselves motorsport fans,unbelieveable :mad:

He is good, maybe a cheat, but he is goooood

Noone doubts hes good but no longer the best and therefore he resorts to cheating just like before.

Okay so its morally wrong but footballers foul each other all the time

Dont even try to campare a foul in soccer to what schumi done :rolleyes:

but name me one sports person who can calculate at 100+mph on a narrow street.

Pretty much any professional driver tbh.

nanook · 28-05-2006 12:56PM

I can understand people saying he is a cheat, i personally think that's a bit strong. There is a lot of discussion of this potentially being schumi's last year, pressure from younger drivers etc.
But at the end of the day, everyone wants the glory, everyone wants to win, everyone wants to be at their best.
If you don't you are not a competitive person and will always be happy with 2nd place.
I stand by what I originally said, yes he is guilty but god he is good.

steviec · 28-05-2006 02:31PM

So, what Renault did today, having Fisichella hold up Webber for two whole laps, turning his 1 second deficit behind Alonso into a 6 second one at a point when Webber looked like a strong candidate for victory, how is that so different from what Schumacher did? At least Schumacher's move, while stupid, was clearly a split second adrenaline-fueled decision as he made a mistake in the middle of a corner, while what Renault did was much more calculated.

What Schumacher did yesterday was wrong, but I don't think he's the only driver who'd do it, since things like what I mentioned above happen all the time. Schumacher might simply be the only one good enough to execute it.

It's a pity this Schumacher's weekend will be remembered for that one decision, rather than the fact he set the fastest lap of the race, he overtook more cars than the rest of the field put together and he was the one and only driver who pushed from the start right to the chequered flag and really showed more determination than anyone else on track today.

edwin privitera · 28-05-2006 03:00PM

Corben Dallas wrote:

Cheat!

There is no doubt (IMO) that he maximised what might have been a small error into a pole winning cheating maneuver. If the Stewards can dole out a penalty to Fisi for baulking DC then they can give one to Schumi. Get teh FIA to force Ferrari to release his telemantary trace from that lap.

Its yet another case of the FIA being afraid of/siding with Ferrari. They are completely spineless when Ferrari are involved, its the Indy tyre fiacso again.
(FIA sided with Bridgestone(ie>Ferrari) at the expence of the whole grid/meaningful race).

Icing on teh cake (into MSC's mindset) was the first call he makes on his radio to teh pits "what position am i in?" answer " P1" => MSC parks car neatly beside barrier in final corner bring out Yellow flags.

I hope Alonso takes him out in the first corner on Sunday.

its obvious on which side you are on. other drivers have stated that schumi's penalty was too harsh. you go on to give as an example of how the fia favours ferrari by mentioning the indy fiasco, and indeed it was a farce, but you ignored the reason behind fia's decision. it was michelin that would not guarantee the safety of their own tyres. fia suggested to the michelin teams to install a speed trap in the the long straight leading to the crucial curve where ralf was hurt. they accepted the suggestion on condition that the bridgestone teams be made to observe the speed trap as well although their tyres had no problems. according to you, in this case, the fia was not being fair. again you conveniently chose not to mention the thousands of forlmula 1 fans present around the track that were disgusted when they saw all the michelin teams pitting after the formation lap.

Corben Dallas · 28-05-2006 03:08PM

So, what Renault did today, having Fisichella hold up Webber for two whole laps, turning his 1 second deficit behind Alonso into a 6 second one at a point when Webber looked like a strong candidate for victory, how is that so different from what Schumacher did?

Your not a Motorsport fan if u cant see any difference.(to use a Football sencario) Schumi commited a professional foul on Sat, not like a lil foul middle of the pitch etc, no it was a Thierry Henry thru on goal only the keeper to beat and the last defender(schumi) hacks him down cynically in the box -> Penalty and the defender should poss be also sent off.

There were two three drivers on faster laps in the last min in Qualifying @ Monaco. So Schumi would probably have started 3/4th on the grid had they been able to finsh their laps. Schumi delibrately had a 'fake crash' in the last corner bringing out the yellow flags,which means all drivers have to back off in that corner making all remaining laps useless.Clock continues to count down to zero, Quali over.

In the race its every man for himself,if yur fighting for position you can change your line once to block, if yur being laped by a faster car u get blue flags and pull over to let the leaders thru. But there wasnt waved blue flags for Fisi cause Webber wasnt close enough to him yet, and Fisi used the fact that hes in the same colour car as the leader to overtake 2 cars in the confusion. When the blue flags were waved Fisi pulled over. Simple as. This is sportmanship within the rules, what schumi did was cheating.

Schumacher takes controversial pole [Poll]

Deliberate or Not ? 28 votes

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