The Sunday after Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from F1, we were expecting big features on the planet's most dominant sportsman of the 21st century...

I have to confess I was a bit surprised when I picked up the Sunday Times today. As it was the first Sunday since Michael Schumacher had made his momentous decision to retire I imagined there would be a selection of pieces about the great man: Something from Peter Windsor, a long time Schumacher fan and a very eloquent, if slightly indulgent F1 writer, or maybe a piece from Jeremy Clarkson who managed to get Schumi to admit to taking Jacques Villeneuve out at Jerez.

There was only a small cartoon, with a "humorous" reference that if Schumacher was going to retire, then he was going to take someone with him.

I could hardly believe it. Whatever you think of Schumacher, since the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994 his presence has dominated a sport like no other.
Tiger Woods may go on to have twelve years at the top, though I doubt it, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, John Mcenroe never got close in tennis.

Lance Armstrong, the seven-times Tour de France winner is perhaps the closest to Schumacher's domination of a sport that has all the high-pressure media attention of F1. Like Schumacher he is mentally very tough and has spiky relations with some sections of the foreign media.

Michael eclipses them all.

However Schumacher's domination has not come without its controversial moments, (Macau, Silverstone, Adelaide, Jerez, Spa, Monaco etc), but with the possible exception of the high speed swerve he put on Mika Hakkinen at Spa, they have all been very obvious and out in the open.

The ruthless streak that has made him a seven-time World Champion has made him a tough competitor on track, and whether it's pinning his brother against the pitwall at 190mph or pushing Fernando Alonso onto the grass at 130mph, it's all been out in the open for all to see (and judge).

So much of sport's niggly, cheaty moments you don't see. There is dreadful sledging (sly backchat) in cricket that is supposed to be a gentleman's game. In rugby union there are hideous injuries from stamping and gouging in the pack that never get attributed. There are all kinds of performance enhancing drugs - some detected, some not - in athletics.

What Schumacher has done out on the track hasn't been in the spirit of Moss or Fangio or Stewart, but you don't get 90 F1 victories without an enormous will to win. In some people's eyes Schumacher is a tainted hero. But then that's why he's so compelling to watch.

Schumacher's exit from F1 can be a good one. More often than not former World Champions don't leave the sport in the best of circumstances.

Mika Hakkinen possibly retired too early, Damon Hill said he was going at the end of the season, but then bottled out, Jacques Villeneuve was dropped by BMW-Sauber, Nigel Mansell had a furious row over driver perks and went off to Indy in a huff. When he came back in 1995 he was too fat for the McLaren. Senna died tragically at Imola, Prost retired in a sulk because he found out Williams had hired Senna for the 1994 season.

So Schumacher's exit, with him at the top of his game, will be an elegant way to step out of the car.

The only slight hiccup is that we don't know the full story yet. For the Ferrari press release on Sunday it was billed that Michael wanted to spend more time with his family. However his manager. Willi Weber was far more explicit. When told this was the reason for Michael's retirement he immediately contradicted it.

"I don't think this is the main reason, I think that he doesn't have the power to make his job as 100% as he did in the past," said Weber.

Given that Schumacher has long been aware of Raikkonen's 2007 arrival at Ferrari, the indication from Weber is that Schumi didn't want to keep driving if he had to compete for the team's attention. Raikkonen has always been adamant that he would never go to Ferrari unless it was on equal terms with Schumacher. And it's very likely that Jean Todt promised him this.

It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall when Todt told Schumacher they'd love him to stay but there's one small thing...

The truth will be revealed in drip drops of information over the years to come, but it seems a pity that we will be denied the sight of Schumacher battling it out on even terms with a team-mate. Ever since Michael claimed his World Championship in 1994 he has insulated himself from any kind of competition from within his own team.

You could argue that his phenomenal dedication to the Ferrari cause has earned him that right. Without Schumacher at Ferrari, there wouldn't have been the resurgence they have enjoyed over the last ten years. Jean Todt was on the brink of being sacked after a farce of a 1996 British GP where both cars had failed in the opening laps. Schumacher helped pull it all round and was challenging for the Championship by the end of the year.

Whether or not Schumacher can make it "eight World Championships and out" is in the balance, but what seemed impossible in Canada, seems very possible now. Perhaps the Sunday Times are waiting till Brazil to pen their elergies. Given the degree of success and incident that has marked his career, a Farewell Schumi supplement is certainly in order.

FH

The F1 fraternity pays tribute to Michael Schumacher, a "legend" and a "great guy", as his F1 career and an era in the sport draw to a close...

Fernando Alonso:"Some people in Formula One will be not so happy about this because there will be no-one to follow in the races. I think we lose and we will miss a great champion on the track. He beat all the records so he has the best numbers in Formula One but I think maybe Formula One will focus more on sport after that."

Ralf Schumacher: "I am sure he has thought long and hard about his decision and I respect it. I have enjoyed racing with him and I wish him all the best both for the championship and for the future."

David Coulthard: "Irrespective of whether people are believers in Michael's race ethics or not, you have to recognise he's been a great champion and it's the end of an era."

Jarno Trulli: "It's been a pleasure for me to race with him, and obviously he has achieved a lot. It's not up to me to say how much, but the numbers speak for themselves. He's given a lot to Formula One, he's given a lot to Ferrari and it's normal that a lot of people will miss him."

Tonio Liuzzi: "He's the greatest champion of the last ten years for sure and to race with him has always been pretty fair and he has given us some good lessons on TV. He's always been a great guy and a great driver to talk about racing and sports with but for sure, that's life."

Felipe Massa: "I think it's sad because we'll miss the most fantastic driver in Formula One and a fantastic man - I'll really miss him as we have a great relationship."

Jean Todt, Ferrari's managing director: "Michael has been the author of a unique chapter in the history of Formula 1 and of Ferrari in particular. It has yet to reach its conclusion and what he has achieved extends over and above the results obtained. He is an exceptional man and will become a legend as a driver. Humanly, he is a great guy. He's very mature, he loved driving, so for us it was fantastic to have him. He is very curious; he wants to know. He wants to understand everything."

Ross Brawn, Ferrari technical director: "Everybody will miss Michael, whoever they are. It is a big event for everyone. I think someone of his ability, someone of his experience, and someone of his involvement will be very badly missed. But F1 goes on, Ferrari goes on."

Rory Byrne, Ferrari's chief designer: "It's the end of Michael's career in Formula One so in that sense, it is the end of an era. When you look at his record, that's going to be difficult to beat."

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One boss: "People have said to me that F1 is boring because he wins everything. So presumably when he's not here, people will be happy. But we'll miss him, because he is a superstar."

Murray Walker, former television commentator: "He has broken every record in the book, has money in the bank, a loving family and lots of lovely homes but it will be very, very difficult for him to find a replacement in his life for what Formula One has given him."

Niki Lauda, former F1 Champion: "If the best guy in the world retires it is certainly a sad day. You can say whatever you want, he won seven world championships and he might win another one. There is nobody like him in the world, he is unique. It's sad that he retires. But I know you have to retire one day and I respect that."

Norberg Haug, Mercedes Motorsport boss: "For me it is sad to learn that he will retire. With his retirement, an era of Formula One racing ends."

Gerhard Berger, former F1 driver: "It is a pity for Formula One to lose such a great champion. He put on a fantastic performance again today and because of what happened to Alonso, everyone here and all the fans are going to be treated to a great end to the championship."

Michael Schumacher, Formula One's most successful driver, today announced he will retire from driving at the end of the season.

His 16 seasons at the top have seen him rewrite the record book and the rule book.

Here P-F1 takes a look at the best and worst of Schumacher's career.

THE BEST
1991: Qualifies a stunning seventh for his grand prix debut with the unfancied Jordan team.

1994: Manages an heroic second place in Spain despite racing for 40 laps stuck in fifth gear.

1995: Reels in Jean Alesi in the closing stages at the Nurburgring, obliterating his 42-second lead in 27 laps before passing the Ferrari around the outside on the penultimate lap.

1996: Wins at a wet Barcelona by 45 seconds after annihilating his opposition despite dropping to sixth at the start.

1998: Produces a brilliant run of flying laps at Hungary to make an audacious three-stop strategy work.

2003: Responds to the death of his mother overnight by winning in Imola despite his grief.

THE WORST
1994: After hitting the Adelaide wall and terminally damaging his car, smashes into Damon Hill to secure his first world title.

1997: Cynically slams into Jacques Villeneuve in a failed bid to win the world championship. Is stripped of his second place in the championship by the FIA.

2002: Takes advantage of Ferrari team orders to pass team-mate Rubens Barrichello yards from the chequered flag in Austria for a victory greeted by boos from the crowd.

2002: Inexplicably attempted to engineer a dead heat at Indianapolis, only to lose out to Barrichello by 0.011 seconds.

2006: Parks his Ferrari across the track in Monaco in an attempt to disrupt qualifying and retain pole position. Sent to the back of the grid by stewards.

The Michael Schumacher Monaco qualifying saga continues to rage on, however, it seems it's the stewards who are mainly in the firing line today...

Yes, yes... As is typical, sniggering cowards love to lay a boot into a man while he is down, and all those that love to see Michael and Ferrari falter had their worst boots on in Monaco.

Without hesitation the immediate reaction was that it was a deliberate attempt to thwart the qualifying efforts of his rivals, and this immediate reaction was repeated and pushed home as far as it would go...can you imagine the pressure on the race stewards. It must have been like a group of children jumping up and down wanting ice-cream....they could only give in.

Please don't say it's his style and please don't use the exhausted examples of Adelaide, or Jerez, let me remind you that there were two legendary all time adversaries who savoured taking each other out if the circumstances allowed for it, and that was called racing.

Only the simplest minded fool would believe that after all these years of hard work and with a reputation as being F1's greatest ambassador, Michael would risk all on something as trivial as Saturdays incident.... I think not. There are not many fools in F1 but there are certainly a lot of people who have an axe to grind with Michael and Ferrari.

My advice to the many disappointed or disillusioned fans is don't just listen to the loudest voice, step back, take a breath and allow for the benefit of the doubt that Michael had everything to loose and nothing to gain out of Saturdays incident.
The only cheats on Saturday were those wearing the boots... they have cheated us F1 fans out of not only a more sensational race but quite possibly cheated us of a sensational season.
Raeph Belrose


...Michael certainly did not cheat. Because it was Michael and Ferrari everyone immediately starts pointing fingers. He has so much to lose if he did, afterall Michael mentions that you could still win starting from 3rd row on the grid.

The penalty handed out by the stewards is just a tactic to let Alonso wins the race without any real contenders. They might as well give the championship to Alonso now. Which certainly proves after the race that Michael and Ferrari sets the fastest race pace. Alonso did not even come near it.

Alonso did not win this Monaco Grand Prix because the best driver was taken out to prevent him from winning the race.

The real winner here is Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. If Michael had started from his original position or even 2nd or 3rd on the grid. He would definitely wins the Monaco race by a MILE.
Ivy Joceylyn


What A Man
Congratulations to Schumi - man enough to face the press and all those little people today. Blew the doors off everyone!

I have to say P-F1,since I have sent around ten emails to this page, and you haven't printed any, I am now certain this is an anti-Ferrari site. My emails may seem pro-Ferrari (just a bit hehehe), but I try to balance the many prints that are negative.

So, reiterating- Schumi flies, fastest lap, 17 place climb up the grid, fastest pole time, NO CHEATING - WHAT A GUY - SCHUMI FOR POPE!!!!!
Steve Hodge


And What A Driver
Guess I'll never know if Schumacher parked his car on purpose or not. What I do know is that he started from the pit and finished fifth, while motormouth Villeneuve finished where he started on 14 and English hero Button made up a whole two positions (not even if you count the cars ahead of them that retired).

So love him or hate him, Schumi is a great driver and makes F1 exciting. If it wasn't for him challenging Alonso, I couldn't be bothered to watch another race this season - just like I didn't watch Monaco as the result was a foregone conclusion.
Guido Duken


Guilty As Charged
I'm writing in because I am so tired of hearing certain Ferrari or Schumacher fans complain illegitimately. Statements like 'The FIA are always looking to damage Ferrari or Schumacher' are constantly echoed by some ignorant people on this site, and I for one cannot understand it.

Anyone with half a brain has seen the FIA clearly side with Michael and Ferrari easily as many times as they have punished them, if not more, so take your complaints elsewhere you ignorant crybabies. Schumacher has been guilty of cheating on numerous occasions anyway, so why people act as though his history should not matter when in any justice system a person's history does is stupid.

Furthermore, some people actually are putting forth the idea that because Schumacher got sent to the back of the grid, F1 is now boring as Alonso gets to start from pole. Now boring?? Where the hell have you been the last five or six years Andrew Lawrance?

I think P-F1 should install a stupidity firewall to some of these ignorant fans that write in. Stop wasting people's time with biased bull.
John Lopez


...I love the Schumacher/Ferrari fanatics. They are so funny. If you try to dispute Michael's "greatness" they will immediately throw numbers and records at you such as seven titles.

But when something like this "accident" happens than they are happy to say "it was just an embarrassing mistake", "he is only human"," it can happen to anyone", "lock ups happen" etc.etc even though the "accident" was definitely of Sato/Ide's level and even lower then their performances thus far. Sure, they say a seven world champion doesn't have to do that, after all he had pole or at least second position.

Isn't the benefit of hindsight fantastic? To have the time to process something like: "Well I'm a seven-time World champion. I don't need to do this!". But you can not control instincts unfortunately.

He knew exactly what he was doing. I am a long term fan of f1 which has seen a lot of incidents and my only bias is the fact that I love F1 and love to watch good, hard wheel to wheel racing. It is not even funny how guilty he is. He had ample opportunity and drive to make the turn. He chooses not to.

In the heat of the moment he corrected left TWICE!! And then he parks the car. I know that many MS/Ferrari fans are in denial and deep down they are hurt by the truth.

But they know.
Peter Wolf


...Schumi's face should have been as red as his suit for the poorest acting job I have seen in 80 years. Cheating as he attempted to do, should have gotten him disqualified from the race, along with a hefty fine and a reprimand, that another obvious attempt to sabotage fellow drivers qualifying times would remove him from F1 for the season.

He has no shame and certainly no sportsmanship as his lengthy record is testament to.

Mad Max has been influenced by the politically correctness crowd as he seems unable to identify a cheaterthat is obvious to anyone who can see light and hear thunder. Schumi is not a good role model for anyoneto emulate.

Evidently he never heard the phrase it's not whether you win or lose that counts, it's how you play the game, and that is how you will be remembered.
Bernard Miller


...One of the skills that makes Schumi the greatest driver of all time is his knowledge of the situation around him - where his main rivals are, how fast they are going, when they are pitting and what they are thinking...

Now all of a sudden, he wasn't aware that the Renaults were behind him and on their hot laps? Come on, for that statement/excuse alone my verdict is guilty!
Michal, Kuala Lumpur


Just Another Day In Formula One
Controversy has long been an integral part of F1. While the people who run it insist they seek to broaden F1's appeal and thus fan base in the U.S. they are in reality forcing this fan of more than forty years away.

First at the U.S.G.P last year the cry babies complaining of a certain lack of speed in one corner were given legitimacy. Traditionally one proceedes as fast and only as fast through a corner as one's car can manage. One does not complain and attempt to force the other cars to slow down as well. Imagine the old Minardi team stating that because they could only go so fast nobody else should be allowed to go any faster. That was the argument last year plain and simple.

Now the forces that dislike the success of Michael claim with very little proof, (I watched the qualifying. I watched him slide.) that he committed some offense, that he actually stopped Freddie Alonso from out qualifying him.

Further, absolute proof that Michael did not deliberately block the track is Max Mosely statement that Michael did. We all know Max is incapable of telling the truth - remember cheaper engines, the past few years of tyre problems?
Raymond Dietz


Sitting On The Fence
At Monaco a few years back, MS wrecked a perfect season by driving into the back of JPM. Last year MS drove into the back of Sato (I think) during the warmup lap. At Melbourne earlier this year MS slammed his car into the wall.

At Monaco this year he made a mistake on that corner. We all know that he stuffed up. We can debate as long as we want actually what his mistake was.

The fact is that none of us know or can prove that he did this on purpose.

Any other statement, no matter sincere, is speculation. Whether he did it on purpose or not, MS copped it on the chin and got with doing his best. No matter what anybody's OPINION of his driving is, it is a fact that he is the one and only seven times world champion!
L Mastro


Championship Has Been Ruined
Look, let's stop fusing so much about Schumi's "error" on Saturday. The fact remains that only he really knows the truth and the race stewards have potentially ruined the Championship by penalising him so severly.

Schumi is a man like any other man. We all make mistakes, and sometimes are governed by our darker side. This said I do not believe that he stopped the session intentially. In the end, like Senna, he has a few red rings on his report card but he is still the best driver by far, demonstrated yet again yesterday and i thank him for the sublime driving he has entertained us with over the years.

I love the fact that he isn't absolutely perfect.
Donovan Fed


...I have read all the comments here on the qualifying incident. Read both the good and bad comments. Myconclusion: it was more anti-Ferrari than anti-Schumacher. Remember last year at Indianapolis where Ferrari were on good tyres and most of the others were on Michelin. Had it been Ferrari on bad tyres and the rest on the good tyres, there will not be so much hatred, etc .. my point is that there are more anti-Ferrari people.

The current incident might just be helping Schumacher to retire from F1 ... and F1 will lose alot from it then. Schumacher, ignore these people, you can never win all the people as long as you are winning races. Alonso will get this hatred soon if he keeps on winning, no matter what he does.
HC Khoo


...The FIA stewards have not only shot themselves in the foot, they have shot this F1 season in the head. They should have given Schumi the benefit of the doubt. He would probably have won the race. The points gap to Alonso would have been closed. Alonso would have been seething with rage and he and Schumi would have been banging wheels for the next ten races.

Great stuff for the fans.

As it is Alonso can now play safe and settle for podiums knowing the only man with the pace to challenge him is effectively out of it.
H Park


...I think it is time that the FIA is held accountable for their utter incompetence. Ferrari should take legal action against the FIA as well as that idiot playboy excuse for a team boss Flav who should have persued a career in acting (perhaps blue movies) rather than F1.

JV (who himself was found cheating by overtaking on yellows in the race) as well as other big mouth excuses for drivers / ex-drivers should also be taken to task.

It is a pitty Ferrari do not make an example out of this situation to stop the rot in F1.
Shaun Green


...There's a saying, jealousy makes you nasty...! Keke Rosberg,not you and your son's careers together will ever not even equal what Schumacher have accomplished and done for F1 in his career, which I dearly hope will last a few years longer just to rub it in. Just look at it, only the average and under-accomplishers had a lot to say about Michael's incident.

As for that big fat ugly little dwarf that calls himself Flavio Briatore, he is a despicable stupid pathetic #@$hole that uses politics and slander to get his way! You are worse than Paul Stoddardt, Briatore!!! Too bad for you and every other anti-Schumi idiot in the world he stunned everybody with a fantastic drive that only reflects his character: that of a true champion!!! From the pitlane to fifth in Monaco...wow!!! He outraced everybody when he had a clear track, he had the fastest lap of the race and he, unlike Alonso, never looked average during the race. He looked (like he said) like he could really win the race from as low as 5th on the grid.

He just had nothing to gain by this alleged move. Only Alonso could (not would) beat his pole time, and even then there were a 50/50 chance that Alonso would make a mistake as he were on the absolute limit of that car as the race proved. Hell, even Mark Webber and a very average McLaren looked racier than Alonso in the middle stint and stood a fair chance at victory. Alonso was gifted the race by luck, reliability, and the rants and raves of a big fat ugly little dwarf...

As for the FIA, 0/10 for giving in to the peer pressure from the big fat ugly little dwarfs of F1 and 10/10 for giving the reputation of the FIA a big knock. Giving such a severe penalty to Schumi seems the only option in order for Alonso to be able to "tick his Monaco box on his CV". You are really killing a very exciting championship!!!

Thanks to Ferrari and Schumacher for being the only team to win races on own merit rather than slander others out of their way.This is exactly the reason why I am a Ferrari and Schumi fanatic!!!

In my eyes, Schumi only got bigger and better. Well done Schumacher and Ferrari!!!
Renier Coetzee


Ferrari Aren't The Only Ones Who Cheat
I have been watching F1 for 25 years and have observed great Champions like Schumi, Senna, Prost, Mansell, Hakkinen etc etc! What bugs me is the fact that in all 25 years Schumi seems to be the one who has born the brunt of this cheating label!

Senna did some things that where really bad and cost Prost a title or two, but got away with them, who could forget Suzuka??? But Schumi just gets burnt for any little thing he does! It is of no surprise to me, but it disgusts me to see a sport be so biased towards a great team and Champion.

Rules are changed to hinder them, and when that doesn't work, then you hava a winging Flav or Rosberg Snr doing the bidding for daddy's little boy? Unfortunately I believe this is all about money...

When Schumi retires, then so will my viewership because of the unfairness of itall. How can a Sporting Body prove ones intent to cheat? Renault, Mclaren etc probably all threatened to pull out of Monaco unless they punished Schumi.

Last year's fiasco at Indy was blamed on Ferrari, so I wonder who will win the next round???
Paul Anderson


Ah The British Press
Hahaha... I read with amusement all the rants against Schumi, especially from the British media. Here we are, with the football diving being so rampant that it has become part of the game. Nobody is calling for Drogba or Pires to retire just coz they dove or handballed blatantly, is there?

But in this case, people (especially Jackie Stewart) are saying that Schumi should retire just coz he's caught cheating (as it appears so). If he cheated and got punished for it, that should be the end of it. Why the high moral ground and all this retirement talk? Button and BAR were caught cheating last year and paid the price. Nobody is asking them to be run out of the F1. If the same morality is used here, they should also be asked to retire from the sport.

Is it because they are British?
Azif Nasaruddin


Missing The Button Bashing
I've just finished reading this mailbag and was shocked to find not one anti-Button letter amongst them.

Are P-F1 losing their touch? I rather liked it, please keep it up.
Andrew Ellis

Got an opinion on Schumi's 'accident' in qualifying? So has everyone in the paddock...

Michael Schumacher: "I don't think we cheated today. I locked up the front and went wide. I tried to engage reverse but it didn't engage, and I didn't really want to back up just by myself without knowing what was coming around the corner and finally, it stalled.

"Your enemies they believe one thing and the people that support you believe another thing and that is what our sport is about. ...I was pretty busy driving my car - I certainly had no radio communication. I didn't know where the other guys were on the road."

Ross Brawn: "He lost control of the car on the lefthander. He locked the brakes and lostthe line and lost it in that corner. There was a lot of cursing on the radio. We wouldn't do that sort of thing on purpose."

Keke Rosberg: "The cheapest, dirtiest thing I have ever seen in Formula One. He should leave F1 and go home. This really brings our sport down. If I was him I would retire in shame."

Flavio Briatore: "I know he cheated. I think he is taking everyone for a ride. Someone who was seven times a world champion wants us to believe that he didn't do it on purpose - it's fairyland. And given that we are not Snow White and the Seven Dwarves I think that what he did was unsporting and against everything. It's really astonishing what he did. Incredible."

Jacques Villeneuve: "I hope it was deliberate, because if that was a mistake he should not even have an F1 superlicence. If you can make a mistake like that, you shouldn't drive a race car. There's no way you could make a mistake like that. I don't know what goes through your mind when you decide to do that, when you know that the rest of the world can see. I don't understand it, it's stupid. He didn't need to do that, he's a seven-times world champion, he was on pole position. Why do that? It's only going to make him look bad. This is embarrassing. Embarrassing for a world champion. It would even be embarrassing for Ide."

Jenson Button: "It was too obvious. Everybody who knows anything about Formula One knows it was done on purpose. What happened wasn't an accident."

Martin Whitmarsh: "It is a sad day for F1 and the sport. Michael Schumacher must have known that his times were down. Extraordinary."

Jarno Trulli: "Just look at the TV pictures and you can clearly see he has parked the car."

Sir Jackie Stewart: "My immediate reaction was that it had been too obvious. I said straight away: "That's not an accident." Then, when you saw the replay, you could see he turned in [to the corner], he turned out - there was plenty of time to sort things out. I have to believe it was a piece of very agile mental management in the sense that I've never seen anyone having the presence of mind to do that. He was fully aware, I'm sure, that Alonso was on a quick lap and there were only seconds remaining."

Martin Brundle: "Michael's reputation is sadly such that nobody was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. I wasn't comfortable he was telling the truth in the press conference. He said he was on a lap that was "hop or stop", which I presume to be the equivalent of "nip and tuck" and that is not correct. His middle sector was slow. He knows the car will switch itself off after 10 seconds if you don't cancel the anti-stall. On-board footage clearly showed him turning away from the racing line."

No, I couldn't quite believe it either. The moment Schumacher ran wide at Rascasse in Qualifying for Monaco and parked the car there it was obvious he didn't want to continue. For a start, the tyres of his Ferrari weren't even up against the Armco, (and for those who doubt it, look at the in-car footage).

The biggest question wasn't DID he do it deliberately. It was quite obvious he did it deliberately. It was WHY he did it? Why risk his reputation as a seven-times World Champion, the greatest points scorer, GP winner, pole-sitter, driver etc of all time.

In the press conference he had his guilty "post-Austria 2002" face on. This was the uncomfortable post-race press conference he had to endure after the Ferrari team had asked Rubens Barrichello to move over and give up the win to him. Schumacher was booed off the podium. At the time Schumi made out that he didn't know what was going on (not true, as it turned out) and referred people to "Mr.Todt".

Luckily on Saturday he had the poodle-like Peter Windsor (a man who worships the ground he walks on) asking the questions in the post-Qualifying press conference and so he got away with it. Though the fact that he momentarily forgot one of the most famous corners in F1 - Rascasse - set alarm bells ringing.

Schumi also seemed unable to describe what had happened that made him run on, just that he was pushing hard. Given that Rascasse along with Lowes/Gran Hotel hairpin is one of the two slowest corners in F1, it's very difficult to get wrong. In the 25 years I've been watching F1 races I can't remember anyone losing it there on a qualifying lap on good tyres.

After we came out of the press conference the ITV crew were very suspicious too.

"Didn't he look a bit sheepish?" asked pundit Mark Blundell who's driven the corner many hundreds of time in his career. "It's difficult to have an accident there."

"There wasn't a conviction in what he was saying and you get the feeling that he parked it and then realised it was the wrong thing to do."

Meanwhile, Ted Kravitz had been speaking to other people in the pitlane. "I've been talking to other teams who've come to me and said Ferrari are a disgrace, they're an absolute disgrace. They're all sure he did it deliberately"

So, no healthy differences of opinion, only one conclusion if you're not wearing red.

Flavio Briatore was similarly disgusted with Schumacher. "I think he is taking everyone for a ride. Someone who was seven times a world champion wants us to believe that he didn't do it on purpose - it's fairyland.

"And given that we are not Snow White and the Seven Dwarves I think that what he did was unsporting and against everything.

"It's really astonishing what he did. Incredible."

Though Schumacher has been mired in controversy throughout his career, stretching back from his pre-F1 days, this is potentially the most serious. This is one incident he can't afford to back down from. It's serious because it could cast a cloud over his exit from F1.

And even if nothing is done before the race on Sunday it will still rage on all season. In the 1997 Jerez GP, when he was fighting for the lead and the World Championship with Jacques Villeneuve, he tried to take Villeneuve out and put himself into the gravel. At the time it was dismissed as a racing incident by stewards, but Schumacher was subsequently punished by the FIA. And years later he admitted to Jeremy Clarkson that yes, he did drive into Jacques.

Schumacher has had similar clashes with Mika Hakkinen, Damon Hill and used to be well-known for his Schu-weave, a manoeuvre which almost pinned his brother against a pitwall, caused Montoya to lose the Brazilian GP and once put Alonso on the grass at Silverstone.

But the incident that is most telling is the start of the 2000 Austrian GP when he was hit by an overzealous Ricardo Zonta in Turn 1. Schumacher's Ferrari had a deranged front wing at the first corner and so Schumi drove his car onto the racing line and then switched the engine off. He was hoping for a red flag and a re-start. Instead he got a Safety Car and no re-start.

Today the ghosts of 1997, of 2000 and of 2002 reappeared. Jean Todt had said that there was some fun missing from F1 and his team have certainly injected it. This incident will be talked about for years to come.

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