#2007 italian gp

[iceman7raikkonen]

[schumigrace]

fernando alonso | 1st place | monza 2007 | podium no.46

[vettelsource]

Sebastian Vettel’s F1 races #4: 2007 Italian GP    ↳ X | X | X | X

[umseb]

“’I was lucky I could continue…’ 18th place: one step forward! (F1 Italy GP, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza)” - june 12, 2023 📷 @.sebastianvettel / instagram

[umlewis]

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lewis hamilton, p2, during the post-race press conference, italy - september 9, 2007

[sebtember5]

Sebastian Vettel - Monza Italia- 2007

[silvercabarets]

Kimi Räikkönen, 2007 Italian GP

[wejustvibing]

In summer we signed and obviously at that time I saw my future with Mercedes. But an opportunity came up in the new year and I decided to take it. It was obviously the hardest decision I think I've ever had to make. I've been with Mercedes for, it's like 26 years they've supported me. We've had an absolutely incredible journey together. We've created history within the sport and it's something I take a lot of pride in. I'm proud of what we've achieved. But ultimately, I'm writing my story and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter.

For every driver growing up, watching history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, probably all of us sitting in our garage, see the screen pop up and you see a driver in the red cockpit and you wonder what it would be like to be surrounded by the red. You go to the Italian grand prix and you see the sea of red Ferrari fans and you can only stand in awe of that. It's a team that's not had a huge success, mostly obviously from Michael's days, but since 2007 and I saw it as a huge challenge. Without a doubt, even as a kid I used to play GP 2 as Michael in that car. So, it definitely is a dream and I'm really, really excited about it.

- Lewis Hamilton

[starafar]

The Schumacher Dragon: Michael

In August 2009, when Michael was working towards a comeback, it was reported in a Chinese newspaper that he had ordered 3 "Chinese style" helmets. The article reported that Michael had said, "When I first went to China, a newspaper drew a dragon as my symbol." Later that year, he also spoke about this helmet in the lead up to ROC, which was held in Beijing that year.

However, the first glimpse of the dragon logo appears to have been in July 2004. At the German GP, Michael was seen with a temporary tattoo on his right forearm with the logo.

He would win the 2004 WDC two races later, at Spa. Following that at the Italian GP in Monza, the dragon would appear as a logo for the first time, on the back of his baseball cap.

The week after that marked the occasion of the first Chinese GP in Shanghai. It was here that the dragon logo would appear on his helmet for the first time. It appeared on the top of the helmet, temporarily replacing his seven stars, as well as on either side of the helmet.

This initial iteration of the dragon logo had, in addition to the large “力”, the character for “strength”, four characters - "迈舒马赫", which roughly translates to "Mike Schumacher". This would later be removed.

The dragon would not be seen on his helmet throughout 2005, but Michael continued using it on his personal merchandise. It featured both on the back of his cap, and also on his drivers shoes.

This continued into 2006, where it again featured on his caps.

However, Michael also opted to subtly incorporate the dragon back into his helmet design for 2006. This new design featured two large dragons, as well as the names of his family in Chinese (Mick “米克” and Michael “米克尔” on the right, and Gina “吉娜” and Corinna “科琳娜” on the left).

A special version of this helmet was commissioned for his final race for Ferrari, and to mark his first retirement, this time with the dragon and his family’s names featured in gold. It also included a list of his race victories around the top of the helmet.

During his retirement in 2007-2008, Michael was still frequently seen around the track in his new capacity as an adviser to Ferrari. He continued featuring the dragon as part of his personal branding.

Michael also tested for Ferrari during both seasons to help with development. During at least one of these testing sessions, Ferrari had it placed on the engine cover.

As mentioned earlier, Michael was planning a return to F1 in 2009 to replace the injured Felipe Massa, though that was ultimately called off due to a neck injury suffered earlier that year. However, pictures from when he was karting in August 2009 showed the “Chinese style” helmet he had planned to use. It was very similar to the helmet design he last used in 2006, but with details in white instead.

Michael made a return to F1 with Mercedes, driving with them from 2010 to 2012. He used pretty much the same helmet design throughout this time, with 2010 featuring the more subtle red version of the helmet:

And 2011 featuring more or less the same design in silver:

2011 was also Michael’s 20th year in F1. For this, a specially designed gold-plated helmet was commissioned and used at the Belgian GP.

He returned to the silver dragon for the rest of his time in F1, with the exception of one more custom helmet made to commemorate his 300th F1 race at the Belgian GP in 2012:

Michael also continued to feature the dragon on both his shoes and gloves, seen here in 2010 and 2011:

You’ll notice that for a brief period of time, Michael went back to the original iteration of the logo featuring the additional four Chinese characters, "迈舒马赫", translating to his name.

Although Michael retired at the end of the 2012 season, that was not yet the end of the dragon in motorsport. Michael used it one last time on his race suit at the Race of Champions in 2012, which he and Sebastian Vettel won for Team Germany.

Apparently a post is limited to 30 images, so on to Part 2: Mick!

Part 1: Michael | Part 2: Mick

[iceman7raikkonen]

[goatseb]

Hi there, quick question for you.

What would you say were Sebastian's best races? Doesn't matter if he won or not but what would you say were his best and showed who he is as a driver the most and you'd recommend them to someone who is just now looking into him?

Hello, this is such an interesting ask!! He's won so many, I feel like a lot of his other incredible races aren't acknowledged as much, so!

2007 Chinese gp - a masterclass from him in a toro rosso

2008 Monaco gp - overtaking on a track where it's basically impossible to overtake

2008 Italian gp - the best race ever actually

2009 Chinese gp - everyone else struggling in the rain (similar to italy 2008)

2012 Abu Dhabi gp - overtaking in places where it shouldn't be possible

2012 Brazilian gp - my personal favourite

2019 German gp - basically everyone struggling except for him

In order to not make this to long, some other impressive ones are Singapore 2013, Canada 2015, Singapore 2016, Malaysia 2017, Azerbaijan 2021. Also despite this last year not being great, I also want to point out the 2022 Japanese and US gp . Incredible overtakes, and dragging that car places it shouldn't be.

If you want to see him win though, then watch any race from 2013 basically

[interlagostrack]

I still remember the day, many years ago, that I was watching the Friday free practice for Hungarian GP while doing some homework and this new guy Sebastian Vettel showed up out of the blue and set the fastest time.

I had no idea who he was so I Googled him and I immediately liked the guy. For one he was German like Schumi, my biggest idol in F1. And his F1 hero was also Schumacher, so yeah, we had that in common, too. Also, he was cute! (I was 14, give me a break!) But the best part about this new Vettel guy was that he was different from the other drivers. He was young and cool and he seemed so carefree. I decided that day to follow his career.

Next year, in 2007, he was racing and ok, he was a bit wild and I loved that too. He was cheeky off track and very fast in it.

And then it was 2008 and the Italian grand prix happened and fuck, that was when I knew it. He was truly special. That win was beautiful. It was not only about being fast or being lucky. He showed every one he was super intelligent and technical when he needed to be.

The Red Bull era was a dream. Seb was a bitch, yeah. But he was so passionate, so fast and so smart, it made me love F1 more than ever. I cried with him at every single one of his titles and to this day, that image of him worshipping his car in 2013 gives me chills. It's one of the most beautiful moments I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

I was never sure Ferrari was a good option but as a Schumacher fan I knew what it meant to him so I was super pleased. I believed he could make it happen. Needless to say it was a huge disappointment.

When the move to Aston Martin happened I think we all knew it was the beginning of the end. But at least it was good to see him so happy again.

But in the past few years, even more than his racing career, we all started to see another side of him. Seb started to admit more and more to his mistakes and apologize for them. He became outspoken about issues important to him. On track he was still fast and aggressive but he was more gentle and caring at the same time. It was such a great pleasure to watch that teen grow into this man that he is today. The dad (on and off track) that is caring, just and fun. That knows when to speak up and when to say I'm sorry and when to yell. The guy that cares so much about the others. I thought I couldn't be more proud of him, but I was wrong.

And now we've reached the end of this F1 journey. I'm so glad I've had the pleasure to be here since day 1. I'm so glad I could watch all his achievements, all his glories and set backs. I'm proud of the kid he was and the man he became. I'm so proud of Sebastian Vettel and I'm going to miss him so much.

It's never easy to say goodbye when one of your idols leave the sport. When Schumi left he took part of my love for F1 with him. Seb is taking a big part of it with him too. Formula 1, to me, won't be the same without him, but at the same time, I know that this sport I love is better because of him.

So I just wish him the best and all the happiness in the world in this next step of his journey, it’s been an honour of a lifetime ♥

danke seb!

[umseb]

sebastian vettel arrives to the track on media day, italy - september 6, 2007 📷 jens buettner / alamy

[umlewis]

italy, p2 // september 9, 2007

[liamtwatter]

I follow F1 since the early 80s when I was a baby, that is almost 40 years, and I was a fan of Hamilton in 2007-08, then we started to know him well...  Did you see the 2 most arselicking, overrated, media darling and politically correct & "cancel culture" involved drivers, Hamilton & Vettel, had a Brazilian flag on their helmets... Who is the best between Schumacher, Hamilton, Senna... putting Hamilton “the new Senna” as “goat” as the English media do, makes no sense, racing is totally different from time to time... Many old Italian drivers were mega, Nuvolari is the greatest in history. Schumacher was as Valentino Rossi for Moto Gp, they made their car / moto seem faster. I was never amazed by Hamilton, maybe just 1 or 2 GPs. The point is the people (often following F1 since 2013...) NEED a next Senna, but that doesn’t mean there is one already. Hamilton was beaten even by average drivers. It amazed me to see many Brazilians supporting him “obviously because of Senna” (?), he’a an arselicker without even a nail of him. Blinded fanboyism is an illness. I’m sure Senna wouldn’t have liked Hamilton..............

Hamilton & Vettel being on the side of politically correct "cancel culture" about the past, shouldn't despise Mercedes because of its Hitler past ? or are they on the side of the new nazi ?

[crystalracing]

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