Lauda wouldn’t have shone like Schu
The Austrian said he would have looked to do something else with his life, but admitted Schumacher had to be applauded for his record-breaking achievements.
''No way. I mean, I would have got bored,'' said Lauda when asked at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis yesterday if he could envisage winning as many races as Schumacher.
''Winning all the time, I would have started to do something else with my life.
''But nevertheless, he's really the best. As long as I can think of racing, by producing results and his consistency in always being better every year, he is by far the best from my point of view.''
Lauda won the world drivers' championship with Ferrari in 1975 and 1977 then quit the sport two years later only to come out of retirement and regain the title with McLaren in 1984.
The now Jaguar Racing boss, who survived an horrific accident in Germany in 1976, finally retired after a 171-race career that yielded 25 wins.
Schumacher's career win record now stands at 63 12 ahead of next-best Alain Prost and this season he became the first driver to win 10 races in a single campaign.
The 33-year-old has also equalled Juan Manuel Fangio's tally of five drivers' crowns this year and has already said he might carry on racing after his Ferrari contract finishes in 2004.
