Michael Schumacher will announce on Sunday that he is going to retire at the end of 2006, according to major German newspaper Bild-Zeitung.


''Schumi turns his back on formula one,'' the headline reads, adding that Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn is also likely to withdraw after the season.

'Bild' reported that Schumacher, the 37-year-old winner of seven world championships, is to announce the news in the post-race press conference, if he finishes in the top three.

Otherwise, a formal announcement to the world's press is scheduled for 6pm at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

''Before then we are saying nothing,'' Schumacher's manager, Willi Weber, told the 'paper.







I really hope this does not happen....i think i would actualy shed a tear if it does happen.... MS will be missed

 

Only if 2008 is a runaway... which it won't because the top guys are all shuffling around. Which makes me think that he'll keep going one more year. I mean, Ferrari/MS would be the top combo by far in 08.

Anyway, I agree with JV when he says MS will be forgotten. OK, so he won't be forgotten, but he'll only be remembered when someone breaks one of his records. He will not reach demi god status.

 

No one can figure out what he has in mind.
Everybody has been speculating for the past saveral months about this decision.

Anyway we will find out on Sunday.

Personally I hope he stays in F1 for as long as possible.

 

7 World Championships is way past demi god status. He's a legend and always will be. When you say the words "Formula 1" to any hayseed NASCAR fan the first sentence will always include a reference to that "Shooooomacker" guy. MS is synonymous with F1 and always will be, he'll be remembered like Ayrton Senna.

 

I totally agree that ms is a living legend.

Also we are very fortunate to be witnessing such a driver in our time. It could take decades before we see another driver acheiving half of what ms has done.

 

Decades ? At present Alonso seems to be getting closer to half the number of world champion wins. We are talking years perhaps.

 

In my mind, Schumacher is a polarizing individual - most people love or hate him, with few in between. As for me, I tend to stay on the hate side....

The thing about his records is that they probably won't be broken. With engine standardization and more emphasis on the "show" it would be harder for anyone to achieve his quantity of successes.

 

3 0r 4 world titles for Alonso, i dont think so.

dont forget there are so many records that MS has acheived, I think it will be very difficult for Alonso to come close to any of them especially the # of races won.

 

See I don't think he's a living legend. Some records may never be broken (7 WDC included), but he'll just be "the record holder". The blatant cheating, the phoniness on the podium... those add up.

 

Yeah, i agree. I can't stand the guy one bit, but you have to give credit where it's due. 7 World Championships & countless records in F1, he is arguably the greatest F1/race car driver of all time.

 

It was only a couple years ago that MS was closing in on Alain Prost's record of 51 GP wins. Now that he has surpassed that record by nearly 200%, he could quit and that would be fine with me, or he could go on and that would be OK, too. Although I would have to wonder why?