Michael Schumacher: Mercedes GP has a long way to go… (Part 2)
While explaining the reason for his poor performance in the season, the driver said that Formula One is a fast changing sport and three years is a long time.
He added that it was a poor thing to expect the same pace from the team that they showed last year. He vividly proclaimed, “Don't forget the situation last year when resources were thrown at winning the championship and preparing for this year there was
a compromise. And that's what we're seeing right now.”
He believes that this year has paid the cost of last year’s championship as the 2010 car suffered because the team, till the last race, was completely buried in their 2009 season and its car. However, this year has also seen something different. Right at
the mid of the season the team principal Ross Brawn realised that the season has already gone out of their hands. So, Mercedes GP has been the first team to halt developmental work on their current season’s car while start preparing for the next year.
Regarding the decisive factor for a team at the season's end, Schumacher stated that the car counts the most for a team to perform well. He agreed that human factor is also important but declared that above all comes the car that one has. No matter how good
a driver is, he needs to have the right car to get the best out of him.
Analysts believe that since the team has shifted all its focus to the next year’s car so the drivers have psychologically relaxed as the weight of expectations has got removed. While commenting on it, Schumacher maintained that it was true to some extent.
He explained saying, “I think the weight of expectation was off quite early in the season, honestly. I don't think it has changed a lot because even in winter testing there was good reason not to be that optimistic. If you take my quotes, pretty early on I
haven't really spoken about the championship. Nico [Rosberg] was a little bit more optimistic, but I saw it going this way. You have a tool in your hand and you know what its possibilities are. That's why I was keen to stop this project and focus on next year
and have a slight edge on the other guys.”
The German driver was also asked about his teammate, Nico Rosberg, as they both are reported to not have a healthy relationship with each other. Rosberg raced far better than Schumacher all through the season due to which the latter has had to face criticism.
At present, Rosberg stands at 8th place in the charts with a total of 122 points. While Schumacher has only been able to get hands on 66 points while no podium has come his way all through the season.
Commenting on his teammate’s performance, the 41 year old said that he is more than 'impressed' by the way he drove all through the season as Nico has established himself as a good racer, and all through the year he has continued to prove his abilities.
Talking about the last two races, the seven times world champion said that he still sees strong position for his team although podium is not likely now. “We need a bit of luck to go for the podium.”
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