Brawn: “Schumacher is the greatest driver of this century”
After the announcement of Michael Schumacher's retirement at the end of the 2012 season, Ross Brawn wanted to pay tribute to the man he helped achieve success throughout his career, which began in 1991 at Spa-Francorchamps.
Despite persistent questioning from journalists in recent months, Michael Schumacher stuck to his schedule and announced his future this Thursday in the Suzuka paddock. After three years with Mercedes AMG, the seven-time German world champion will definitively retire at the end of the Interlagos evening.
This announcement obviously did not fail to elicit reactions from other actors in the Formula One Circus, including Ross Brawn who accompanied Schumacher throughout his long and successful career.
« I think he is the greatest driver of this century. I had the privilege of working with Michael from the beginning, and we had fantastic moments, some of the most difficult ones as well, but also a lot of success, » highlights Brawn in the prelude to the Japanese Grand Prix.
Brawn, who was part of all the successes of the German, making him the undisputed king of Formula 1 for many years and the most titled driver in the history of the sport, did not manage to add a 92nd victory to his protégé’s record. We didn’t achieve what we wanted to do together, and it’s frustrating, but I believe Michael will have contributed to what we will do in the future. I think Michael brought a lot to the team during his second career, things that people don’t see. For me, personally, he is the greatest driver of this century.
Norbert Haug joins the Briton and also praises the Kaiser’s dedication during the three years he spent under the silver colors of Mercedes: He gave everything without complaining and was constructive. I learned more from this ‘new’ Michael in his second career than in the first.
As he himself highlighted during his press conference, this new retirement will more than likely be definitive this time, and F1 will bid farewell once again to a great champion who will leave a void in the paddocks. I think it’s a great loss, it’s unfortunate. There are many people who wanted him to continue, including me. Let’s hope he’ll be around in other roles so we can see him from time to time, reacted Sebastian Vettel.
