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Hey, I am no fan of Schumi, but I wouldn't have had a problem as a passenger on that trip.

I don't see any mention of Autobahn's or such. Definitely sounds like reckless driving and he should be locked up for it

Lol, must have been really cool to see what his car can do.

LOLOLOL. Wonder if the taxi was a FIAT, or Ferarri might have a thing or two to say to him. hehe.

irresponsible moron

lol jealousy makes you nasty paul

I would give me left testicle to see him in aksion...

but you gave it to stem cell research.

no, not jealous

I have always HATED him

and wtf does he think he is setting a bad example by racing an unknown vehicle with his family in the car?

sorry but that was stupid and irresponsible

Paul is right

wth was that idiot thinking - with his wife and kids in the car ...

they should revoke his license for that stunt ...

Revoking Schumacher's licence is like revoking Chuck's roundhouse kick.

Comparing schuim with Chuck is like comparing piss with Veuve Cliquot (or something)

NOBODY messes with Chuck !

i'm no fan of schumi BUT i do think that his driving was not reckless in its true sense.. we talking about a world champion who controlled a monster machine, so i think that he would know how to handle and control a car properly, also, i doubt he would do anything to put his family's life in danger. he obviously knows how to drive, knows how to handle a car, knows how to control a car.... then again i could be biased because i race myself (not on the streets) and am surrounded by that sort of environment, if you can call it that, all the time... does it set a bad example? yes i guess it does sort of but dont think his license should be revoked or anything like that... i might never have supported schumi and ferrari and i will always take a swipe at them whenever i can (lol) but i do respect the man and his skills for alot of reasons...

and believe it or not, this die hard bmw sauber fan would have loved to be in the passenger seat next to him! believe it! cos its true! lol

racing on a track in a controlled environment is one thing, but in public where there is factor x to take into consideration is stupid, that factor x being OTHER PEOPLE.

Exactly right.

On the track there are emergency technicians, finely tuned cars designed for racing and no pedestrians running across the track.

Never mind that in F1 you're only responsible for yourself, not your entire family

In all respect for you and your opinion, this must be the biggest bullsh1t i have ever read.

First of all, Paul and Rust pointed out a very good argument. Their is a difference between a racetrack and the streets. Sure, they can all drive specially designed cars with a weight that is not higher than that of my Logitech mouse, but they only have to pay attention to what lies ahead.
The best example that we can use is when that one nutcase (a couple of years ago) stormed onto the track. All of the pilots lost focus and there was a big drama. Now, that was just 1 guy, not a family with kids or some bikes or .....
And schuim might be able to race a F1 car - does it mean he can do the same thing with a standard, heavier, not-futuristic looking taxi ? on a standard tarmac type of road ?

Second point : his "experience" makes it not reckless at all because he knows he can do it. Fine, lets see what people would say if pilots of the SA Air Force would start flying their jets through the centre of Cape Town, shooting right next to buildings, ..... because they know what they are doing.
Ok, perhaps its a little bit out of proportion, but the context is the same.
Experience and maturity means first of all controlling YOURSELF and not the machine.

This being said - i like this topic

with all due respect your reply is absolutely non-sensical... if a person knows how to handle an f1 car, he knows how to handle a normal stock car... you suggesting that he cant drive a normal car properly just because his an f1 driver? now that is bullshit in its purest form!

the ass who ran out onto the track? on an f1 track something happening like that is HIGHLY unlikely therefore you dont look out for it, therefore when it happened there was chaos.. someone running out in front of you in traffic on the streets.. it happens everyday therefore you alert to that and you look out for it and you anticipate... and i'm sure schumi knows the difference between the race track and the streets in terms of what to look out for

and the pilots analogy is completely out of context.. we talking about cars here, not planes...different dynamics altogether...

experience and maturity means controlling the car, not letting the car control you regardless of the situation you in... again i say, he would not have placed his family's life in danger, he knows what he does and he does it well... (i cant believe i'm defending schumi...)

Just because you're a professional F1 racer it doesn't mean you're a professional taxi racer. Granted he may have above-average knowledge of cars but that doesn't mean he can race a street car.

In fact, I bet he has just as much experience driving a street car as any of us here. The nuances of F1 are completely non-existent when you're on a city street.


Not really, the principle is the same: it doesn't have anything to do with the type of vehicle involved.

The point is that certain vehicles are designed for certain environments and should thus be kept there. F1 cars belong on the track and so do their drivers, just as an airliner belongs at 30 000ft instead of 30.


Typo: experience and maturity racing Formula 1 cars means controlling the Formula 1 car.

Either way, the guy raced a civilian car on a city road WITH HIS FAMILY INSIDE. Besides the fact that his stunt was illegal, any parent/husband who puts his family at risk in an UNPREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENT (i.e. not on the track) is an irresponsible, arrogant doos.

I don't care if he was five-time World Taxi Racing champion, endangering your family and civilians because you're late for a flight makes you an asshole.

No he does not !



It is highly likely to happen on the street - but they are trained on the track ..



And we are talking attitude, not equipment



Ok, lets put it in another perspective ... do other people know what they are doing ... he is exposed to sunday-drivers and people that have no clue what they are doing in a car .. he is not surrounded by pro pilots on a track ... an accident waiting to happen.

But you do know that i'm not going personal here ?

Its purely a discussion - right ?

You think he just jumped into F1? He went through all the disciplines. from go karting to F1. I am pretty darn sure he can handle a car. Oh wait... I have seen him handling cars at the Champions of Champions event... yes, he can handle a car.

does he know that the taxi has a bent axel from a previous accident and tends to understeer?
does he know that there is a bubble on the inside of the front left tyre from when the taxi driver swerved to avoid hitting a dog and hit the pavement instead?
does he know that particular make and models exact ability to come out of a corner at a certain speed?
does he know that the taxi driver hasn't had his car serviced in 4 months and the car is not optimal?
does he know that the wheels need balancing and alignment after the taxi driver hit a pot hole that morning and the toe in is completely out, causing steering to be slightly wobbly?
does he know that last week the taxi driver drove over a small patch of new road and caught a small peice of road tar in his brake calliper that could at any second slip between the pad and disk?
does he know that it's been a tough few months for the taxi owner who decided to continue with his half worn brake pads at his last car service 4 months ago simply because he could not afford new ones?
does he know that the driver did not tighten the nuts on his wheels tightly enough when he changed his last flat and the nuts have slowly worked themselves free, ready to come off at any second?


On the track Schumi had a team of people that did all his prechecks, he knew that car like noone else. he drove it for a living and he tested it to push its boundaries.

That does not mean he can forgo all the unmentioned factors that could put his life, his family's lives and the life of the taxi at risk because he knows how to handle a car, he may know how to handle a ferrari that has been serviced by pros , but does he know a car that he has never driven in his life?

it was irresponsible, plain and simple.

everyone is ooohh aahh he drove a taxi like a bat out of hell.
what if he actualy had an accident? I promise you I would burst out laughing.


in order for him to have done it responsibly he should have taken an hour to completely check the vehicle to make sure it was safe and sound.

idiot may as well have let the taxi driver do his job and drive his fucking ass to the airport at a reasonable pace.

But you guys keep on focussing soley on that car ...
Even if you talk about karts - you are talking about driving a piece of machinery, designed for that purpose, on a controlled track.

"Cutting a corner" on a track means that you will feel a slight bump because you are going over the white/red line.
In the city it means that you are going on the sidewalk (most of the cases HIGHER than the street, damaging your car) where you have pedestrians - with every right to be on that sidewalk

"Overtaking" on a racetrack means that you will be ahead of your opponent.
In the city it means not only that you will be driving on the wrong lane, but also that you will be heading straight for a car coming from the other direction

And what annoyes me the most - if i drive 60 where i can only go 50, i get a ticket. If a guy uses his cellphone, he can even get arrested these days.
But if Schuim wants to go and play F1 in the city, we should appreciate it ?

This is not a SA taxi. I am pretty sure they are checked by the company the taxi driver drives for. I could be wrong though, cause I don't know how things happen in this country.

Whose to say that full throttle on this taxi wasn't only 80km/h?

Do you drive at 60km/h after you've driven through a pot hole? Do you obey all the road rules in SA? If someone came to you in a porsche, lambo, R8 and said take it for a spin, and push it. Would you check it for an hour before taking it for a spin?

I am pretty sure he would've picked up on certain of the things you said above. Experience would tell him pretty quickly that a car is understeering etc... Yes, some of them he wouldn't know, and yes I do agree that it was irresponsible. I was just saying that he does know how to drive a car.

What if it was a private taxi?



then why the hype?



no but I wouldn't have my family in the car and that's the crux

The point of bring karts into this was to explain that he has a lot of experience driving all kinds of different vehicles, all handling differently. He has BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. He will know how to handle most cars without a problem.


Where does it say he cuts a corner? Also, if he is driving on a 2 lane road going the same direction. i.e. 2 this way and 2 coming the other way, you can cut a corner easily. from LANE 2, through LANE1 back into LANE 2.



LOL. You assume straight away that it was a 1 lane road. It could be a three way highway. This would mean that he has 3 lanes going in the same direction. You can quite easily find a space to move amongst the 3 to move forwards. It could also be a 2 lane road. Plenty of space.

Point taken.


Why not? In all honesty, yes the taxi would have gone faster. I was just bringing a different option to the table.



But you would endanger all the other people on the road then?

How many highways do you have in the city ? Isn't that what its all about ? Him showing off his skills IN the city ? Cos frankly, driving fast on the highway is not spectacular and even less worth mentioning in the newspaper.



Now THAT is an argument ... respect

lol

This is a fun topic

The twat acted irresponsibly.

Let's put it this way. When last do you think he drove a normal street car? A VW, Toyota, whatever we drive around in? He's got a garages full of Ferrari's which were designed for racing. Once again, street cars weren't.

Paul got in bang on the button.

I am not disputing the fact that he was irresponsible and that he shouldn't have done it. I am just saying that he would've had some sort of idea what he was doing, and thus people were at less risk than if I was doing the same thing.


True. Not many, I assume it is the city cause the paper says Berlin? Most airports are accessible via a freeway, multi lane roads etc.. He could have been going through a city, I don't know the setup in Germany all that well, so I am clutching at guesses here. That said, it could have been a road with 2 lanes in the city.

ALL THAT SAID... read the first part of this post.

yes I would be endangering other people less my family

whereas he was endangering his family, the driver, other people , the hot dog vendor on the corner and the bus full of school kids.

We can argue about the condition of the car or how many lanes the road had all day long. The point is that he increased the risk to his family when he didn't have to.

That, right there, is the issue.

As an example, just because I'm a military-trained sniper with over 50 kills under my belt doesn't mean I'm going to practice by shooting cans off my daughter's head instead of a tree stump.

so it would have been fine if his family wasn't in the car then Paul? That's kinda crappy. Either way, it would be irresponsible.

I disagree. The issue should be that he increased the risk to everyone around him. Yes he should be fined for what he did. He shouldn't just get away with it.

all I can say is that Kimi Raikonnen would never have done something so careless

i go to one meeting and all this happens??? lol



all i can say is that BMW-Sauber's drivers would never have done something so careless

That's cos they only go as fast as a normal street car

The cops are investigating this matter.

Schumi could get away with a fine, but the taxi driver who moved over, well, he might be in a lot more trouble.

yeah, I read that too. Should be kinda interesting. I just hope that the dude doesn't lose his job. I bet MS will pay for any fines the driver may get though. Maybe he will hire him as his personal driver, no wait... he drives to slow.

orly

all I can say is ....


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!


Why fine the great schumi ?

I would feel bad for the taxi driver , but even the cops are in agreement that what MS did was irresponsible