Sticking his neck out

[cider_and_toast]

Well now that the hype is over and the returning hero has completed his first race back from retirement it's time to look at his race and speculate on the remainder of the season. There were continued stories in the press this weekend of Schumacher stamping his will on the team including one story that he demanded to swap sides in the garage with Nico which meant the mechancis spent a while lumping kit from one side of the garage to the other.

In Schueys own words he struggled to come to grips (pun intended) with the new narrower tyres and it's been speculated the he dosn't like the way the car understeers while Nico does. Now the question has to be asked will Brawn change the fundamental way the car handels to suit Schuey rather than Nico?

Also Schumacher told everyone he had a small coming together with his team mate in the first corner of the first lap but said that it wasn't a problem.

Nico deserves to be applauded the way he dealt with the hype surrounding his much fancied team mate and by laying down his marker in the race he will almost certainly have ruffled a few feathers.

Lauda, in his first comeback race for Mclaren finished 4th but was out-qualified by his team mate. It' interesting to note that Lauda then went on to win his third race back and take another win that season. Will Schuey be able to do the same.

 

[Brogan]

I said it last season, at 41 he's just too old and his reactions will be too slow to compete at the same level he did before.
I have no doubt he will improve as the season goes on but it's not a coincidence that modern F1 drivers start thinking about retirement in their late 30's.

I was quite surprised to see him complaining about the new format, but then again he was master of the short sprint system, especially when it came to strategy and jumping places in the pit stops.

Nico I thought did well to cope with the pressure and beat Schumacher on all but fastest lap (F1 2010 Head To Head).
I don't expect that to be the case for the whole season though.

 

[snowy]

Nico may have out qualified and out pointed Schumacher but ultimately there was no significant difference in their race pace.

Lap	Schumacher	Rosberg	



1	06:39.000	06:38.000	

2	02:04.376	02:03.507	

3	02:03.818	02:03.519	

4	02:03.893	02:03.682	

5	02:03.706	02:03.384	

6	02:03.935	02:03.503	

7	02:03.900	02:03.571	

8	02:04.053	02:03.674	

9	02:03.651	02:03.834	

10	02:03.693	02:03.716	

11	02:03.936	02:03.914	

12	02:03.859	02:04.002	

13	02:04.083	02:04.132	

14	02:03.737	02:03.924	

15	02:06.000	02:03.726	

16	02:20.848	02:06.000	

17	02:01.973	02:21.500	

18	02:02.027	02:01.683	

19	02:02.082	02:02.338	

20	02:02.056	02:01.758	

21	02:01.694	02:01.351	

22	02:01.397	02:01.462	

23	02:01.786	02:01.201	

24	02:01.477	02:01.520	

25	02:01.291	02:01.370	

26	02:01.827	02:02.045	

27	02:01.287	02:01.300	

28	02:01.333	02:01.247	

29	02:01.524	02:01.273	

30	02:01.458	02:01.341	

31	02:01.072	02:01.142	

32	02:01.237	02:00.625	

33	02:01.034	02:00.903	

34	02:01.464	02:01.104	

35	02:00.993	02:00.889	

36	02:00.814	02:00.766	

37	02:00.990	02:00.497	

38	02:00.511	02:00.599	

39	02:00.720	02:00.848	

40	02:00.598	02:00.694	

41	02:00.521	02:00.980	

42	02:00.497	02:00.289	

43	02:00.575	02:00.406	

44	02:00.497	02:00.509	

45	02:00.204	02:00.236	

46	02:00.592	02:00.504	

47	02:00.742	02:00.920	

48	02:00.642	02:00.902	

49	02:00.585	02:00.414

 

[siffert_fan]

This is too early to draw any conclusions. The testing ban effects MS far more than Nico, who hasn't had a 3 year layoff. I expected rust to be present, and don't think it will all be gone in the next race either.

I think that Schu will be able to alter the handling of his car without it necessitating a redesign, and nothing he does should have any effect on the way Nico's car handles.

As for Lauda's comeback-he was in a more dominant car than this years Merc is likely to be. I still think Schu will win more than one race this year.