Regardless of what side of the GOAT debate you sit on, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are two of the best drivers to ever grace the sport꧅.

They are both seven-time F1 world champions, and their mark on 𝓀the sport will never be forgotten.

Their paths did cro𓄧ss when Schumacher announced his shock return to Mercedes in 2010, however, a lack of competitiveness from both driver and team meant we didn’t ge𝓀t to see the German at the sharp end of the grid.

Instead, Schumacher’s second career was dominated by a younger German, in 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Sebastian Vettel.

However, it’s fair to question whether F1 was potentially robbed of having at least two title battles involving Hamilton and Schu𓆏macher had the ☂latter not retired from the sport at the end of 2006.

Firstly, why did Schumacher decide to retire?

The Ferrari president at the time, Luca di Montezemolo, was pushing to sign Kimi Raikkonen, with the Ital🔥ian looking to the future, prepar💖ing the team for life without Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, and of course, Schumacher.

With Schumacher’s contract with Ferrari running out at the end of the 2006 season, 𝔍he wasn’t in a fav🅺ourable position, particularly if he wanted to dictate his terms to the team.

Schumacher could have staye꧒d on as Raikkonen’s teammate, albeit without clear number one status, but his preference was to remain with the team alongside Felipe Massa, however, di Montezemolo had 🔯other ideas.

Schumacher informed team boss Todt 𝕴at the United States Grand Prix of his decision🐻 before announcing it to the world following his win at Monza later that year.

With Schumacher on the sidelines for 2007, it would b🐼e Raikkonen and Massa up against reigning world champion Fernando Alonso, and rookie, Hamilton.

2007 and 2008 were titanic years for F1 with McLaren and Ferrari going head-to-head for both titles down to 𝓡the final raceౠ.

In 2007, the internal war between Alonso and Hamilton dominated the title race in the first half o🤡f the year.

After the 2007 European Grand Prix - ha꧅lfway through the season - Hamilton led the standings by just two points ahead of Alonso, while Massa was 11 points off the𒀰 pace in third, seven clear of Raikkonen.

With just five rounds to go, Rꦇaikkonen still trailed Mass🌟a by one-point in the standings.

Comparatively, Sch𝄹umacher was 34 points ahead of the Brazilian at that point one year earlier.

It was clear that❀ while he was still performing at a very high level, Raikkonen wasn’t as comfortable as he was with McLaren in 2003 or 2005.

Regardless, Raikkonen did enough in the final seven races to overturnꩵ Hamilton’s signifi🗹cant lead, making the most of McLaren’s implosion amid the ‘spygate’ scandal.

Raikkonen took the title in Brazil as Ferrari were crowned constructors' 💦champions after McLaren's disqualification from the championship.

While Raikkonen did ultimately bring it home, S🅷chumacher would have arguably been in a better position to do given the Finn's inability🔥 to dominate Massa in 2007.

2008ღ is more clear cut given Ferrari had the quickest car in dry conditions.

Had it not been for some misfortune, Massa ✨would have comfortably won the title with an engine failure at the Hungaroring and a fuel hose issue in Singapore costing him big points.

Whi💃le Massa was at hi🅘s best in 2008, he still had the tendency to make crucial mistakes (Australia and Malaysia).

Plus, one of Massa’s key weaknesses compared to Hamilton and Schumacher was wet🦂 conditions - think 🌞the 2008 British Grand Prix.

While it is all hypothetical, there’s no doubt there would have been some intense battles between Schumacher and Hamilton had the German not been squeezed out of the team at the end of 2ꦺ006.

Whether he would have came out on top is pure speculation, but it would have been something special to have witnessed two F1 greats go head to head in similar fashion to what we saw with 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen and Hamilton.