After Mercedes confirmed that McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton will join the team next year to replace Michael Schumacher, one of the biggest questions was if the multiple F1 World Champion would still be in F1 next year. The answer came in Japan, where the German began the weekend in Suzuka by announcing
his second retirement. Following three
disappointing seasons with Mercedes, Schumacher will turn his back to the sport yet again.
In 1991 'Schumi' made his F1 debut with Jordan and was pouched by
Benetton one race later. After winning two F1 World titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, he switched to Scuderia Ferrari where he captured five more World titles between 2000 and 2004. At the end of 2006 he quit F1 for the first time, having just missed out on the F1 title to
Spaniard Fernando Alonso.
When Mercedes re-entered the sport in 2010, Schumacher returned to partner Nico Rosberg at the German squad. Schumacher's best result as a Mercedes driver was in this year's European Grand Prix in Valencia, finishing third behind Finnish Lotus driver Kimi Räikkonen and Spanish Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso.
As Formula 1 arrived in Japan, Schumacher made an end to all speculations surrounding his future in F1.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” the German said. “We had a
three-year agreement and I have had doubts for a while about whether I
had the energy to carry on. I said back in 2006 that my batteries were
empty and now I think I’m in the red zone, so I’m not sure there would
be time to recharge them, but I’m looking forward to my freedom.
There’s no hard feelings with Mercedes in a way, we have achieved a
great deal. Now I will just continue to do exactly what I have been doing, which is to finish races and focus 100 percent on what I do.”
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2024 F1 Championship Standings (as of April 7)
P | Driver | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 77 |
2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 64 |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 59 |
4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 55 |
5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 37 |
6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 32 |
7 | George Russell | Mercedes | 24 |
8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 24 |
9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 10 |
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 9 |
11 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 7 |
12 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | 6 |
13 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 3 |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1 |
15 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 0 |
16 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 0 |
17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 0 |
18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 0 |
19 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 0 |
20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 0 |
21 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber | 0 |
P | Team | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 141 |
Poles: 4 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 3 | ||
2 | Scuderia Ferrari | 120 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 1 | ||
3 | McLaren F1 Team | 69 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
4 | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 34 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
5 | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 33 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
6 | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
7 | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 4 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
8 | Williams Racing | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
9 | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
10 | Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 |
2024 MotoGP Championship Standings (as of April 14)
P | Rider | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | 80 |
2 | Enea Bastianini | Ducati Lenovo | 59 |
3 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing | 56 |
4 | Pedro Acosta | GASGAS Tech3 | 54 |
5 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo | 50 |
6 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM | 49 |
7 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia Racing | 39 |
8 | Marc Marquez | Gresini Racing | 36 |
9 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Pertamina Enduro VR46 | 25 |
10 | Jack Miller | Red Bull KTM | 22 |
11 | Marco Bezzecchi | Pertamina Enduro VR46 | 20 |
12 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha | 19 |
13 | Alex Marquez | Gresini Racing | 14 |
14 | Miguel Oliveira | Trackhouse Racing | 13 |
15 | Joan Mir | Repsol Honda | 7 |
16 | Raul Fernandez | Trackhouse Racing | 7 |
17 | Augusto Fernandez | GASGAS Tech3 | 7 |
18 | Johann Zarco | LCR Honda Castrol | 5 |
19 | Alex Rins | Monster Energy Yamaha | 3 |
20 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda Idemitsu | 2 |
21 | Luca Marini | Repsol Honda | 0 |
22 | Franco Morbidelli | Pramac Racing | 0 |
P | Team | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Ducati Lenovo Team | 109 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 1 | ||
2 | Aprilia Racing | 95 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 2 GP wins: 1 | ||
3 | Prima Pramac Racing | 80 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 1 GP wins: 1 | ||
4 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 71 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
5 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 | 61 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
6 | Gresini Racing MotoGP | 50 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
7 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 45 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
8 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 22 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
9 | Trackhouse Racing | 20 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
10 | Repsol Honda Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
11 | LCR Honda Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 |