Was Schumacher forced out?
"I know there has been a lot of speculation about the timing of my announcement, but for me it was just right," said Schumacher.
"Ferrari were incredibly gracious and left it all up to me to say when.
"After we decided on Monza, I was a little unsure while we were in Istanbul (for the Turkish Grand Prix) and wondered whether to wait until the end of the year.
"But in testing at Monza, Jean (Todt) asked me what I would prefer to do, and I decided to tell everyone after the Monza race because I wanted to be able to focus on it beforehand."
09/11/06 One rumor making the rounds at Monza was that Ferrari forced Michael Schumacher into retirement because they could no longer afford to pay his huge salary without the full Marlboro sponsorship. Schumacher gave a rather cool reception to Ferrari President Luca Montezemolo on the victory podium, as did Jean Todt…as if they were not happy with him. Even at 37-years old, Schumacher is still the fastest driver in F1, so in some respects it must be a bitter pill knowing he may have been able to reach the 100 win mark next year.