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After analyzing all relevant information, it is rather safe to state that Michael Schumacher purposely cheated in Monaco. Stopping his car on track during qualifying, was not a driver error, but an obvious attempt to prevent others from going faster than him in the session.
The most obvious question I had to ask myself is, how could the best driver of all time make such an amateur mistake? He couldn't, that is just the way it is.
What I then had to ask, is why he applied the brakes so severally even though he was not going too fast for the corner. I read an interview with Race Steward Joaquin Verdegay and his opinion of the events at the Rascasse corner hold the most water. Verdegay had access to all of the telemetry and knew exactly what Schumacher was doing in the car. This is what he said:
"We don't know for sure if the entire maneuver was deliberate, but in that spot he had certainly not done anything like it throughout the weekend. Schumacher braked over 50% more heavily than on the other laps he did. He then performed some absolutely unnecessary and pathetic counter-steering, and that lasted five metres, until there was no more chances of going through the turn normally.
He lost control of his car while traveling at only 16km/h. That is something completely unjustifiable. And the engine only shut off because he wanted it to by losing enough time before hitting the clutch. And the excuse that he did not engage reverse because there was traffic doesn't make sense at all."
As Verdegay points out, Schumacher's attempts at navigating through the corner were indeed pathetic. Schumacher was going so slow that recovering from his apparent lock-up, would have been preposterously simple for a man of his talents. Watching Michael swing the steering wheel back and forth almost made me laugh, it just seemed ridiculous that he was doing it.
It must be said that many of the Tifosi believe that the FIA was being unfair to Michael Schumacher, even if he had done something wrong, they believe he was pre-judged. I find that this holds little water. From everything I have seen and heard, I believe that the Stewards and the FIA acted very fairly and would have done the same to any other driver who had done this. The Tifosi should just be happy that Michael did not receive a disqualification from the entire Grand Prix.
Now of course it is very easy to simply say that Michael did this on purpose based on the visual and telemetry evidence, but why would he do something so stupid? It does not stand to reason that he would put his Championship challenge on the line, just to start from pole position. After seeing how fast Michael was in the actual race, in an incredible drive from 22nd to 5th and in Monaco no less, it would not be far fetched in the slightest to say that Michael could have won the race from starting 2nd or even from the second row. So then why would he do something that would put him in such a difficult position to win and one that would seriously damage his reputation? I don't know this, to me I do not see any reason for him to do what he did. So then maybe it was just a racing incident, maybe he did lock-up and lose control at 16 km/h, that would at least be what the Tifosi think, and want to be believe. I however can not believe this.
The evidence is irrefutable, Michael Schumacher purposely manufactured his incident so that he would start from pole position. There is no reason to believe that this was just a racing incident, Schumacher is to good for what happened to have happened to him.
Schumacher now has slipped 21 points behind Championship leader Fernando Alonso, but that is the least of his concerns. This incident has caused him to lose an infinitesimal amount of respect. Certainly, he has lost some of my respect for him as a racer and as a man, there is no questioning this.
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