Is Schumacher best ever?

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Associated Press

SILVERSTONE, England (Jul 23, 1998 - 9:10 EDT) -- Michael Schumacher is the
undisputed No. 1 driver in Formula One, but is he better than the late
Ayrton Senna or Alain Prost?

The 29-year-old German drove through heavy rain -- nobody's better in the
wet stuff -- two weeks ago at the British Grand Prix get his 31st career
victory. That left him tied with Nigel Mansell for third on the F1 list.

Next comes Senna, who won 41 times before being killed four years ago in
the San Marino Grand Prix. Should Schumacher pass Senna, Prost's 51
victories -- including seven in 1993 in his final season at age 38 -- would
be the only target remaining.

Schumacher should have the time and talent to achieve his goals. He has a
better winning percentage than either Prost or Senna.

In 110 races, he's won 28.18 percent of the time. Prost won 25.63 percent
of the time in 199 rides, slightly better than the 25.46 ratio of Senna in
161 starts.

Damon Hill, the 1996 series champion and a former teammate of Senna,
Mansell and Prost, gave the nod to Schumacher. That's some endorsement,
because Hill lost twice to Schumacher in battles for the series
championship and has been very critical of him.

"Nigel, Alain and Ayrton were all great in their way," Hill said.
"They all had their great strengths and the odd weakness as well.

"But Michael is the only one I've known who has it all. No one else
performs consistently on the level he does."

Methodical, ruthless, icy, arrogant, tenacious, smug -- pick your
adjective. Schumacher has detractors, but has given hope to Ferrari, the
Italian giant famed for chaos and passion -- and no F1 champion in 19
years.

Schumacher gets results in cars that don't always merit them. Even critics
concede he's a second faster per lap than anyone else, due to his
concentration on the track and late nights studying data printouts and
computer simulations.

This year's McLaren is super-quick, the best package of the season with
Mika Hakkinen and teammate David Coulthard winning five of the first six
races.

But Schumacher, with hard driving and un-Ferrari-like reliability, has
clawed back and won the last three races to move within two points of
Hakkinen in the series standings. Overall, Schumacher has won four times.

This, without benefit of a pole -- a most valuable commodity in F1, where
the first car to the first turn on the first lap has an overwhelming
advantage. The McLarens of Hakkinen and Coulthard have shared all nine
poles.

Despite winning those uphill battles, Schumacher has his critics.

In the season-ending race last year, he intentionally crashed into Jacques
Villeneuve as the Canadian tried to pass. Villeneuve of Williams went on to
win the championship, and Schumacher got only a gentle reprimand from the
FIA -- the world governing body of the sport -- and was stripped of his
second-place F1 finish.

Last month, in the Canadian Grand Prix, Schumacher dashed out of the pit
lane and ran Heinz-Harald Frentzen of Williams off the track. Villeneuve
charged that Schumacher's tactics "put other drivers at risk."

Schumacher's British GP victory also was blemished.

He was allowed to take a 10-second stop-go-penalty after he finished the
race -- rather than during his final laps when his lead was only 20 seconds
over Hakkinen. McLaren protested the victory.

"Michael plays everything to the limit, and that is why he wins so
many races," said retired F1 driver Gerhard Berger.

No driver is more important to any team than Schumacher, who resurrected
the moribund Ferrari program last year. Now, Ferrari president Luca di
Montezemolo has given him a new three-year contract that will pay
Schumacher $42 million per season.

Certainly, no driver is more important to Formula One's image and its fat
TV contract. Some even suspect Schumacher and Ferrari get special
treatment.

"Most of the people within the sport want them (Ferrari) to win,"
said McLaren chairman Ron Dennis. "I'm taking care with my words here,
but effectively Ferrari winning the world championship -- from a
promotional standpoint and the image of Formula One -- is better than
McLaren winning it.

"Therefore, any indiscretion of theirs is tolerated."

If Schumacher wins the championship this season, it would be his third.
That would match Senna, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Nelson
Piquet.

Prost won four, and racing pioneer Juan Manuel Fangio had five.

"I get fed up hearing all the complaints about Michael's
driving," said F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone. "He's a racer and it's
a pity there's not more like him."

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