Is Schumacher the greatest racer of all-time?

By Steve Schwarz Sep 12, 2006, 20:11 GMT

Philadelphia, PA - The greatest race car driver in Formula One history announced that he would retire at the end of the 2006 season. German Michael Schumacher, the seven-time Formula One Series champion, won the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday and on the victory podium announced that he would stop driving at the end of the year.

It is the perfect time for the champion to retire, while still at the top of his profession.

Schumacher has won four of the last six events to climb within two points of championship leader Fernando Alonso and with three races left in the season could easily claim his record eighth F1 drivers title.

'One of the greatest sporting careers is ending,' said Thomas Bach, Germany's top sports official and a vice president of the IOC. 'His achievements go beyond Formula One and sport itself.'

Schumacher already holds nearly every F1 mark.

The Ferrari driver has 90 wins in 247 starts almost doubling his nearest competitor Alain Prost's 51 wins. He is also the all-time leader in poles (68), series titles (7), most wins in a single season (13 - 2004), consecutive wins (7 - 2004), 2nd-place finishes (43), fastest race laps (75), races led (139), laps led (5,047), points earned (1,354), points in a season (148 - 2004), consecutive seasons with a win (15), podium finishes (153), wins at one GP (8 - France), wins from the pole (40), consecutive races in the points (24), consecutive podium finishes (19), championship winning margin (67 - 2002) and earliest clinch of a title (with 6 races to go - 2002).

In 2002 he finish on the podium in every event - the only driver to every do so and he holds with former teammate Rubens Barrichello the record for most one-two finishes at 24.

With all these records and still just 37, Schumacher could continue in the sport for a few more years, but he has chosen just the right time to call it quits.

'When you retire too late, you damage your reputation,' said Helmut Digel, VP of the IAAF. 'Michael Schumacher quit when he is still world class. You can only wish that all athletes made such decisions.'

His dominance of the sport cannot be argued.

His win percentage is far better than 'King' Richard Petty's. Petty won more times 200, but he raced in 1177 events (16.99%) which pales next to Schumacher's win percentage of 36.43%. Three-time IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. has 18 wins in 99 starts = 18.18%, while A.J. Foyt (53 Champ Car wins in 369 starts) won at a 14.36% pace.

Mario Andretti's win percentage is much lower than Schumacher (111 wins in 879 starts = 12.62%) though it can be argued that Andretti raced in almost every series while Schumacher stayed in Formula One for his entire career. Andretti won four Champ Car Series titles, one Formula One title and has both a Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 win on his resume.

Still, in my opinion, the numbers speak for themselves.

In fact, his dominance of Formula One might just be the greatest of any sportsman in any sport. His number would compare favorably with Tiger Wood's domination of golf or Roger Federer's current abuse of men's tennis competition.

Yes, Schumacher is the greatest race car driver in history and you have just three more chances to see him before he retires from the sport for good. Don't you dare miss them.

© 2006 The Sports Network