Schumacher: Destination Unknown?

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What Will Schumacher Gain?

  • Race Win.

  • Race Podium.

  • 4th-24th (Nothing Special).

Results are only viewable after voting.
EternalMSC

EternalMSC

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2011
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Well two points in 5 races, appalling results from the outlook. But what really can we fathom from Michael Schumachers' worst start to a season ever.
A pole-sitting and race-winning car, and a teammate who has proven both this season, but why is he grappling ahead of the 3 new teams at the back of the F1 order?
To add salt into the wounds, a Force India driver is primed for position in the Silver Arrows barracks.

AUS: P4 - DNF - ISSUE/GEARBOX
MAL: P3 - 10TH - INCIDENT/GROSJEAN
CHI: P2 - DNF - ISSUE/WHEEL
BAH: P22 - 10TH - ISSUE/QUALIFYING
ESP: P9 - DNF - INCIDENT/SENNA

So what can we see for the future of the Michael Schumacher?
Already we have had 4 results influenced by a mishap not caused by the driver himself, Spain can also be debated.

Ross Brawn believes Schumachers luck will turn soon:
"I think he has actually been very good this year," said Brawn ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
"We have not achieved the results we wanted to but if you look under the surface, he has been pretty good this year."
"We need a few more things to fall in place, and then I think we can still have a lot of fun with Michael. I think rather like there has been a lot of attention on his incident in Spain, there will be massive attention if he does succeed and does well which I am looking forward to."
Brawn said that he also was not surprised that Schumacher felt more motivated by the strong start to the season Mercedes has enjoyed, rather than downbeat about his own disappointments.
"That is Michael very much," explained Brawn.
"Michael likes a challenge and that is what F1 is about. Michael likes that challenge and he does dig pretty deep when things are not perhaps going as well as they might."
"Collectively we have not achieved the results that perhaps we could have achieved this year, but what we see is the core performance is very good. So if we get everything aligned we can start to get some decent results and that is typical of Michael."

Courtesy of Yahoo Sport.​
I very much would like to see Michael return to the podium after nearly three years, but time is running out. A Monaco return with a penalty would make my year personally.
With this 5 winners / 5 races mallarky, it is anybody's shot at the win...

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I'm highly suspiscious of the first retirement, it looked to me like he got it wrong at the first corner like Seb a few laps before except he drove into a big bank of turf which damaged the car, and as to Spain, it was pretty obvious from the replays whose fault it was
 
Well through his frustration in spain he has ruined this race as well. Even if Merc are on the pace (who knows really) it wont be him to capitalise. Track position is king and Schumi has very little hope of obtaining it.
 
Miggins said:
I'm highly suspiscious of the first retirement, it looked to me like he got it wrong at the first corner like Seb a few laps before except he drove into a big bank of turf which damaged the car, and as to Spain, it was pretty obvious from the replays whose fault it was
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Well it was a straight t-bone yes, but Senna's wiggling under breaking did seem to cause confusion, however much of an effect it had. Apparently Schumacher had gear box issues well before he planted it onto the grass, although I can see your point, feel free to give an opinion on his future.
 
Julius Caesar said:
Well through his frustration in spain he has ruined this race as well. Even if Merc are on the pace (who knows really) it wont be him to capitalise. Track position is king and Schumi has very little hope of obtaining it.
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Does seem weird that something bad always happens to Schumacher every time Seb is behind him and fighting for position this year.
 
An interesting thread if I may say so, EMSC.

However, I'm sure your intention was not to provoke excuses for Schumacher, which, as the thread develops, you yourself appear to be hinting at. How come nobody's yet mentioned the tyres he whinged about so publicly? Surely that's a good excuse for his confused admirers? As for sifting through his various failures this season, I will point out once again that Senna's "wiggling" as you describe it was: ~a: perfectly justified, since he is entitled to defend his position and then return to the racing line; and ~b: pretty minor, even for a relative newcomer to F1! As it was, Schumacher – who's unpredictable swerving is magnitudes worse – seemed to experience mental meltdown in his complete inability to make the right decision, based on what he could see was happening right in front of him!

Most collisions on track involve some element of responsibility from more than one driver, but to be perfectly frank, I have rarely seen a more obvious example of total misjudgement. At a lower level, he would be in danger of having his licence revoked for his repeated reckless driving and obvious lack of anticipation. If it is ever possible for one driver to be 100% blameworthy (which I have already acknowledged is rare), then Schumacher ramming Senna in Barcelona 2012 is one of the clearest examples of the modern era.

As for the rest of his performances, it is easy to suggest anyone is 'unlucky' if they are being consistently poor; but I do not agree in general that his results are excusable. As you say, the 2012 Mercedes car is already a proven race-winner. Rosberg is quick but has still not yet established himself as a top-tier driver with the likes of (in no particular order) Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Button; yet in Schumacher, he has a weak and thoroughly over-rated team-mate, who lags well behind.

Disregarding all of his various misdemeanours and unsportsmanlike behaviour, for a moment; since rumours began about his possible reappearance, I have been pointing out that when all is said and done, he is simply too slow. In fact, he was already too slow a long time back. With the best car (in my opinion) and undoubtedly the best financed and most capable team who held every conceivable advantage, he was beaten twice on the trot by a clever, determined and fundamentally quicker driver called Alonso.

But I hope he sticks around…
 
I don't know if you were watching Spain FP1 on Sky, but Brundle was trackside at the chicane and Croft said that he had just received a text from Brundle which said that Schumacher was hard on his tyres (among other things). He's an intelligent driver who knows how to get the job done, so if he hasn't already been able to adapt his style to get the most from the tyres, I don't think he will this year. As tyres are arguably the most important thing this year, what chance does Schumacher have of turning his season around?

His best chance to get a good result imo will be when there is rain. He did a good job in Malaysia considering he struggled with tyre temps. Other than that, he needs to capitalise on the W03's strengths when he gets to Canada and Monza.
 
Schumacher is digging himself into an ever deepening hole by continuing to race in F1, he is being shown now for what he actually is, mediocre, one has to ask just how did he manage to win seven WDCs, most of us know the answer to that one.

Schumacher, through his persistent incredible arrogance is showing us what he is, and more importantly was, truly capable of, not a lot, eh.

He is destroying his own public credibility race by race.

Long may he continue to do so.
 
allsaintchris said:
What are the odds of him having an accident at the first corner?
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I would not consider Schumacher less accident prone than any other driver; and Monaco's Turn 1 is as likely a scene for a crash as any other 'Turn 1' on the calendar.

That said, I should add that –with a few exceptions– F1 has, on average, by far the best drivers in the world. Generally, this means that accidents in F1 are less likely than in other forms of motor racing.
 
EternalMSC said:
Well it was a straight t-bone yes, but Senna's wiggling under breaking did seem to cause confusion, however much of an effect it had. Apparently Schumacher had gear box issues well before he planted it onto the grass, although I can see your point, feel free to give an opinion on his future.
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I guess as a Schumache rfan your view of the Senna incident will be fairly partisan, as mine as an avid detractor will be. I was surprised at his pace in comparison to Rosberg at the start of the seasn, but I think Rosberg was still feeling the effects of the Indian decision, now he's won a race his tail is up and his out-pacing Schumacher by a decent margin. I can't see Schumacher staying where he is in relation to the points table, I think it's only a matter of time before he gets on the podium, but I can't see it being a regular visitation. I don't know what he gives Mercedes outside of the car (performance wise), but if he gets a contract past this season it will be based more on that than on his racing results.
 
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