Schumacher 2010 - the excuses continue...

[FB]

I believe I can't state without fear of contradiction Michael Schumacher had a pretty pants season in 2010. Many excuses were made for his rather piss-poor performance - the car was too short, he couldn't get used to the new narrower front tyres, he wasn't used to driving on full tanks etc, etc. (feel free to add your own).

Ross Brawn has now added a new excuse - apparently he was too slow in the slow corner. Well no shit Sherlock - I do believe he wasn't so good in the fast ones either and chicanes appeared to pose a considerable problem. This, of course, will be remedied when Mercedes invest in a new simulator.

Here's a thought, maybe the old chap is past it and shouldn't have let his ego overtake his ageing talent. What a shame, Schumie rewrote the record books in F1 and his comeback hasn't just tarnishing this it's buffed off most of the gilt leaving us with the dull, greening copper left underneath.

What money on Nico Hulkenberg replacing him during 2011?

 

[snowy]

Ross Brawn stating that Michael wasn't fast enough in the slow corners can't - or shouldn't - actually be interpreted as an excuse. It's just a statement of fact.

It seems rather harsh to criticise Michael's ego, as it clearly worked wonders for him during his early career. It created a catalogue of almost insurmountable records and were it not for his unreasonable self assurance Ferrari would never have been resurrected, would have languished in the mid-field to this day and F1 may well have been the poorer for it.

The run up to the 2010 season may well have been very ordinary and uninspiring for many thousands of people. Lewis Hamilton and others expressed a very keen desire and thrill to race against the 7 time champion. Nico Rosberg has had his stock enhanced to an incredible degree, showing as he has that he cannot be intimidated by or kowtow to a tried and tested intimidator.

Far from being a waste of time and a failed exercise, Michael's return should be viewed simply as what it is: A middle aged man desiring to rekindle his passion and youth and an opportunity for youth to express and show its newness, dynamism and advantages.

 

[siffert_fan]

Snowy--I agree 100%. Very well said.

 

[FB]

Please don't mis-interperet my ramblings Snowy. Schumie raised the bar in so many ways in F1 it's almost impossible to measure. His dominance of the Formula was both astonishing and, frankly, pretty boring in the early noughties but he ranks up there with the greatest F1 drivers of all time.

The reason why I have perceived RB's comments as excuses is that this data has been available to Mercedes GP all season and to come out with it now seems a bit pointless. So MS was too slow in the slow corners. So what? This, to me at least, indicates that the bloke simply isn't up to the job anymore but his ego, which you correctly point out is what made him the multiple champion he his, won't allow him to realise that this comeback simply isn't working.

I also struggle with the motivation for his comeback. Lauda needed the cash to support his struggling airline. Prost had a point to prove to Senna and lots of others in F1. Nigel Mansell's comeback in 1995 was driven by the same egotistical motivation, especially as Williams wouldn't have him back, and that was similarly awful (perhaps even worse than Schumacher's).

Why does Schuamcher want, or need, to drive in F1 again other than for ego reasons. And surely his ego can't be so vast that it can cope with being beaten by all the young pups on the grid, regardless of problems with last years Mercedes car?

 

[snowy]

It would seem that Ross is implying that Michael Schumacher is still quick and brave in the critical fast stuff but lacks some element, be it finesse, judgement, trust in the rear end to negotiate the slow bits. Had I the time I would trawl through all the sector times and try to find out if Michael is/was actually as fast as Nico through the fast and medium fast turns.

Perhaps Ross and Michael are fighting a rearguard action, reassuring sponsors and Mercedes board members that he is still up to the job and that they should keep the faith...

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Perhaps Michael should consider quitting F1 for a new career in drag racing.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Perhaps Michael should consider quitting F1 for a new career in drag racing.

I don't think he'll manage very well in a skirt and heels.

 

[teabagyokel]

Although I don't believe that this will happen, it will be interesting to see if Schumacher can cope in 2011 without the narrow tyres, short car, full tank blah blah.

I think the full tank point has been overlooked actually, because Schumacher's old genius, whilst not lacking in other areas, often came down to him putting in blinding laps in and around pitstops. This skill is somewhat redundant in modern-day F1, but recall that he and Benetton hit the top in 1994...

As for slow corners, he outqualified Rosberg 5 times: Barcelona, Istanbul, Spa, Interlagos and Abu Dhabi. Discounting the wet qualifications from Spa and Interlagos, the first two are quite well known for their fast corners; ie. most of Barcelona and [bg=#000000]TURN 8[/bg].

Abu Dhabi doesn't fit into that pattern, but there you go!

 

[Galahad]

I suppose what Ross is saying is that they've identified a specific area where Michael struggled in comparison to Nico - no doubt heavily influenced by the behaviour of the narrower front tyre - and therefore there is a clear target to aim at, in terms of his performance. As tby has pointed out, the evidence does tend to bear him out.

If he was suffering from a different problem every weekend, or was generally slow everywhere in a Badoer sort of way, that would be more concerning, and much more difficult to rectify.

I think he deserves another chance. If Petrov does, then Michael does, eh?

Oh, and I'm loathe to write him off, ever.

 

[teabagyokel]

I think he deserves another chance. If Petrov does, then Michael does, eh?

Oh, and I'm loathe to write him off, ever.

I'd agree with this, but Petrov is 26 and Schumi is 42!

I'm not sure Schumi's comeback can work, but I don't want to flat say it won't for fear of looking ridiculous!

 

[Galahad]

I think he deserves another chance. If Petrov does, then Michael does, eh?

Oh, and I'm loathe to write him off, ever.

I'd agree with this, but Petrov is 26 and Schumi is 42!

And Vitaly's won how many world championships?

 

[FB]

Galahad said:
And Vitaly's won how many world championships?

Yeah, but how many times has Schumie won the Lada Cup Russia? Huh, huh

Anyway, I hope I'm made to eat these words and Schumacher finds some form in 2011 but after he was beaten so thoroughly by Rosberg last season (a driver, for me at least, on whom the jury is still out) I just can't see it happening.

The Schumacher of 2000 to 2006 just doesn't seem to still be in there. Outwardly he's still as struttingly arrogant as we all know and love (or is that love to hate ). He even tried some his old intimidatory techniques and failed at that.

I think Snowy's point on RB working on keeping Mercedes and the sponsors on side is quite salient. But for me Schumacher 2010 was a peacock which had lost it's tail feathers...

 

[teabagyokel]

I think he deserves another chance. If Petrov does, then Michael does, eh?

Oh, and I'm loathe to write him off, ever.

I'd agree with this, but Petrov is 26 and Schumi is 42!

And Vitaly's won how many world championships?

Only once has a 40+ year old won races since 1970, and that was Mansell in 1994 when he was in the best car and the Championship rivals ran each other off the road from in front of him and he still barely beat Gerhard Berger home!

For that reason, I don't see a long-term future for this deal for Schumacher, and I think Mercedes have an opportunity to develop the next big German talent (Hulkenburg) instead, which will be more profitable in the long term and possibly in the short term.

On Petrov, it is so difficult to be a rookie in F1 nowadays because you're expected to perform well against whoever you're up against or else, partly because Lewis Hamilton managed to do so in 2007. Sometimes, you need a bit of time to really accelerate through your career, rather than hitting the skids when your arse is handed to you by an Alonso, Kubica or Hamilton.

Schumacher doesn't bring roubles either!

 

[Galahad]

Schumacher's drive is paying for itself, don't worry about that...

It may well all blow up in his face. I was against him coming back from the start, I didn't think he had much to gain and, potentially, plenty to lose, and so far that's how it's turned out.

I just can't accept that someone can lose that much talent that quickly with so little obvious explanation. Lauda came out of retirement to a totally different generation of cars than those he'd left; Mansell came back in 1994 post-Indycars to a gizmo-free F1, at a similar age to Schumi now, and was right on the pace.

 

[FB]

Sorry if I sound like a bit of a broken record but Mercedes are getting their excuses in nice and early for 2011. Now it appears Schumie get's motion sickness in the Merc simulator.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9373576.stm

 

[Grizzly]