Schumacher set for final fairwell

This weekend sees the retirement of the most successful driver in the history of Formula One, Michael Schumacher.

His return to the sport was met with a huge fan fair, hardly surprising for a man who has broken almost every record there is to break in F1.

The German had won seven Formula One Championships, he had won 91 Grand Prix’s and stood on the podium 154 times.

Right up until the point of his first retirement he was still chasing titles, missing out to Fernando Alonso.

But while his return with Mercedes was met with much anticipation it has failed to live up to expectation.

The Mercedes car has never been one of the top cars in the paddock, but Schumacher was never even able to get the most out of what he did have, regularly losing out to team-mate Nico Rosberg both in qualifying and in the races.

In 2010, Schumacher finished 9th in the standings with just 72 points, three fourth place finishes in Spain, Turkey and Korea. In 2011 he finished 8th with 76 points with a fourth place finish in Canada a season highlight.

In 2012 the car did look good on occasions, in China Nico Rosberg drove it to victory, but Schumacher was forced to retire. In Monaco Schumacher set the fastest time in qualifying only for a five place grid penalty following an infringement in Spain stopping him from starting the race from pole position.

It looks likely that this years European Grand Prix will be the highlight of Schumacher’s second Formula One career, as that produced his 155th podium finish. But with 12 non points paying finishes this year, Schumacher’s career will come to an end in Brazil with a bit of a whimper, he’s currently 15th in the drivers standings with only 43 points to his name.

With a poor record like that it’s hardly surprising that Schumacher looks set to slip out of the back door quietly with the attention firmly set on Formula One’s new breed of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel who are battling it out for their third world title.

But his overall record deserves far more than that. Schumacher has set records that are unlikely to ever be beaten. He may not have set them during the glamour years of the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s and he may have missed out on the rivalries that drivers in those years enjoyed, but he showed dominance like no other.

‘My departure from Formula One will probably be less emotional for me this time than in 2006, when we were still fighting for the championship and everything was much more intense. This time round, I will be able to pay more attention to my farewell and hopefully savour it too. Schumacher told Sky Sports.

‘I have had fantastic years in Formula One and a lot of support from fans around the world, and I wish to particularly thank them for that. Of course, I would be happiest if I could say goodbye with a strong race, and I am sure we will be doing everything we can to make it happen.’

Mercedes Team Principal Ross Brawn added: ‘Having worked with Michael for the majority of the 21 seasons of his career, I feel that he is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Formula One driver of all time, and we wish him the very best with his future plans, It will be an emotional weekend for everyone in the team.’