Title chances unaffected by experience, says Michael Schumacher
With five drivers competing closely for the 2010 formula one championship title, critics have been hard-pressed to speculate who will come out on top. With numerous factors to be considered – the driver’s
skill, talent, hunger, strategy, track layout and vehicle – it is a daring move to predict the winner at the moment. But seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher reasons that the experience aspect has little to play in the race for the F1 crown, and that
none of the five drivers have any prominent advantage over the other.
“I don't think you look back at what you had in your pocket,” the Mercedes driver insisted. When questioned if Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, and Fernando Alonso carried an edge into their contention,
he replied, “That would excuse certain drivers [Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel] that I believe have big chances to win the championship, so I don't think experience is the key part to this championship. Yes, you [have] a bit more experience, but at the end
of the day you drive, you fight and there is one aim – to win the championship. And having a win under your belt or not does not change the situation.”
Given Schumacher’s outstanding championship record, does this mean that approaching the race for the ultimate win with a fresh heart is the key to victory? 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren,
currently second place in the rankings, doesn’t think so.
“Pretty much all the top drivers have won championships in our careers, so we know what it feels like – but when you get to F1 it is on a much larger scale and the pressure is multiplied,” he explained.
“So definitely Fernando has no worries, in my mind. He has been there, done it before, so he knows the pressures.
He added, “It is the same for Michael, for example. Jenson has also been there and experienced it, and I have been there and experienced it. When you are doing it for the first time, in terms of the pressure,
it is your first attempt at dealing with that pressure, and then if it does get to you – you have to take it how it comes.”
Hamilton finished with, “I am hoping that the ones who have won it do have a little bit of an advantage.”
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