Was Michael Schumacher forced to retire by Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemelo? F1 pundit spills the beans

F1 pundit Peter Windsor recently spoke about whether Michael Schumacher was forced to leave Ferrari by the team boss Luca di Montezemelo. There were a lot of talks after the seven-time world champion suddenly announced his retirement in 2006, even though he was performing quite well.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Windsor stated that he does not feel that Schumacher was forced to retire from the Prancing Horse by Montezemelo. He explained how the German driver was mulling over whether he should retire or not.

Furthermore, the F1 pundit also gave the example of Carlos Reutemann and how the driver lineup changed after he retired.

"I don't think he was forced to retire at all. I think, as far as I know, he was on the edge of yes or no, but he realized...a bit like Carlos Reutemann when leaving Ferrari, knowing that Gill would be there alongside Jody, and then if he stayed at Ferrari, Gill was going to be out of a drive," Peter Windsor said.

Windsor went on to explain the good relationship Michael Schumacher had with his teammate Felipe Massa, and how the former's retirement would have affected the Brazilan's career.

"I think it was the same thing with Michael, he was very fond of Felipe Massa, and he knew that if he retired, then Felipe would be out of a drive. So anyway, that sort of pushed him over the edge of making that decision. I think it was more Felipe, and I think Felipe knows that as well; I think he's mentioned that a couple of times," he added.

Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from the sport right after winning the 2006 F1 Italian GP, which was extremely shocking for the entire F1 fanbase. Although he did return to the sport with Mercedes, the German was unable to perform at the same level as he did with the Italian team.

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Windsor feels Ferrari needs more English personnel

The F1 journalist feels that Ferrari needs more English engineers and team members, but was quick to admit that they are quite difficult to hire.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor stated how, because of Brexit, it is difficult for the Prancing Horse to recruit any British engineers or team members who could improve the team.

"Ferrari got another problem. Unique to them, really, compared with the British-based teams, and that is it's very difficult to get people to work for Ferrari these days because of BREXIT. So, assuming you want English, you know, and I think they do, that's what they need - really good English Engineers," he explained.

Ferrari is currently struggling to keep up with the other top teams in Formula 1. They are fourth in the constructors' championship, behind Mercedes, Aston Martin, Mercedes, and, of course, Red Bull.