Sticking his neck out

cider_and_toast

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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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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. :goodday:
 
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