Michael Schumacher back at Belgium and at the back of the grid
Michael Schumacher is not a man to think twice about things, but surely he will be thinking long and hard about what he did at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Formula One and Schumacher will return to Spa-Francorchamps next weekend, but as the other drivers can concentrate on qualifying as high up the grid as possible, Schumacher will be serving his 10-place grid penalty after almost forcing Rubens Barrichello into the pitwall at top speed.
Although they were jostling for a low position, Schumacher might be regretting what he did to his former Ferrari teammate. The seven-time world champion said after the incident in Budapest: “I obviously wanted to make it difficult for him to overtake me and I also showed him clearly that I did not want to let him past, but obviously I did not want to endanger him with my manoeuvre. If he feels this way, then sorry, that was not my intention.”
After retiring in 2006, the 41-year-old returned to Formula One and has endured a torrid time, unable to challenge for wins in an under-performing Mercedes car, with fourth being his highest finish this season.
Schumacher has won more Formula One races at Spa than any other driver, six in total, but will have a lot of work to do from the back places of the grid. The German is excited to return to racing in Spa, and he will take the positives out of the race, despite being slapped with the penalty.
“Spa has always been my favourite racetrack and so for that reason alone, I am really looking forward to going back and racing there,” he said.
“It has been ages since I have last been there. Our weekend will obviously be handicapped by my grid penalty and consequently it will be difficult to expect special things from the race. On the other hand, every racing kilometre is important and welcome because we can learn from it with regards to our car. I will definitely try to make the best out of the weekend,” Schumacher added.
Meanwhile, reigning world champion Jenson Button is confident his McLaren team can get back to winning ways after being outshone by Red Bull and Ferrari in the last few races.
“We come into the Belgian Grand Prix knowing that we have some catching up do to,” he said.
“We didn’t have a particularly strong race in Hungary, and the whole team wants to get back to the front again as quickly as possible.”
The sport’s governing body, the FIA, will introduce revised tests on the cars to ensure teams are not using clever flexi-wing concepts, which are banned. Button believes these tests, which could affect Red Bull and Ferrari, as well as his team’s own performance, will put them back in contention.
“While we’re optimistic that the bodywork rules clarification will close the gap among the top teams, and that both Spa and Monza [Italy] should suit our package better than the Hungaroring [Budapest], it’s still important that we regain the momentum we’d reached earlier this season,” he said.
Button lies fourth in the drivers’ standings, 14 points off the leader Mark Webber of Red Bull. Button didn’t complete the race in Spa last year, and is looking to fight for the win.
“I love racing at Spa. It’s one of the truly great circuits, and a grand prix that I’d love to win. I didn’t have the best race here last year, when I was punted out at the top of the hill on the first lap, so that just gives me additional motivation to do well here,” he said.
One thing is for sure, Button has more of a chance of winning the race than Schumacher.
Maybe next year Michael.
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