Former teammate Eddie Irvine slams Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher has been highly criticized for his decision of returning to Formula 1 by almost everyone and this time, his former Ferrari teammate, Eddie Irvine was the one to slam the 7-time world champion.
This season has so far been the worst one for Michael after his debut season and one can say that he does not have the best of cars. However, Michael will never do enough to explain his poor performance as compared to his younger teammate, Nico Rosberg.
Irvine had once openly acknowledged during their time together in the late 90s that he lacks the talent to beat the German legend. But now, Eddie thinks that Michael should return the favour by admitting that he is the one struggling for raw pace now.
“On paper, his return wasn't a bad idea. But he had already lost something in 2006, when Felipe Massa was often in front of him. Three years later, he has lost even more”, Irvine told a sports magazine.
Earlier, Michael Schumacher, after the best statistical results in the history of Formula 1, had retired in 2006. He had lost the championship two times consecutively to the Spaniard, Fernando Alonso then. No one criticized the 41-year-old's performances
back then and his decision of retiring was highly appreciated and understood by the fans. But, his return to the Formula 1 was always a question for many.
This recent statement by Eddie Irvine is surely a huge blow to the former world champion because this time, it was his former teammate criticizing him and his words do matter. Schumacher's return seemed like a good deal for him as he was joining the reigning
champions, Brawn GP.
“The result … it's a disaster”, Irvine said. He added that Michael should stop making excuses as no excuse can explain his struggle for keeping up with his younger teammate who is not even too much experienced as Michael.
“It's 'this is a new team, with new people'. But in his first year at Ferrari, the car was rubbish but he won three races who in the sister car finished the 1996 world championship in tenth place”, said Eddie.
Irvine claimed that Michael is just a great driver and does not know much about cars. "You can give him anything with four wheels and he’ll drive it quickly but he is not good at building teams. He was always given the perfect conditions and the team did
most of his “homework”", maintained Irvine.
This was quite a harsh statement by Michael’s former teammate and it would definitely be a big blow to the German’s confidence.
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