Will Michael Schumacher be able to win in the 2011 season in MGP-W02? – Formula 1
Looking at his long and successful years in Formula 1, any one can bet their money on Michael Schumacher.
With seven world championships and an experience of more than 270 races, Schumi is definitely the man for 2011 season, but sadly his performance tells a different story.
Starting with the seven championships, out of which five came in a Ferrari car. Schumi had the best car on the grid by which he was able to win the titles in such an impressive fashion.
Although a driver’s talent is a good attribute in racing, but mostly the fastest car has won the titles and the driver sitting in it gets the credit, at least that’s the story for the last six years.
Schumi’s return to the Formula 1 was not a good one because he joined the struggling and newly born Mercedes team. The car, MGP-W01, was too slow in the 2010 season but still, he was completely outmatched by his teammate, Nico Rosberg.
If we look at the cars and conditions, we get an answer as to why Schumi will not be a champion this season. The cars that the German used to drive in the early 2000s were the simplest if compared to what the electronic cars we have on the track today.
Starting with the ban on the off-season testing sessions, which were the main element in Schumi’s success rate, he used to test thousands of miles in the car to optimise the package and keep himself fit for the race. These testing sessions are banned
and instead teams have developed something called simulators which gives the same amount of G-force on the body and help the drivers to check the systems.
In late January 2011, it was reported that Schumi has suffered from motion sickness in the simulator while his teammate, Nico had a good time in it. This can be a factor in the German’s bad performance.
The steering wheel is a big problem for the drivers as more than twenty buttons and meters are installed on them. Schumi has previously shown concern about the steering wheel saying that the new Playstation generation will have a good time in the car
while the driver of his age will have to cope up with the modern tools of the race which will take time.
Although Schumi has more experience than any other driver on the Pirelli tyres, because he did a whole season on them, the German has failed to cope with the 2011 Pirelli rubber.
Then comes that hard part, Schumi is competing with the pressure of four other world champions which are all more experienced than him on the new rules and modern type of racing.
Starting the 2011 season, it is quite clear that the Mercedes has no pace compared to the likes of Red Bull and McLaren team. Despite Nico’s great performance in the Chinese Grand Prix, where he finished fifth, MGP-W02 is still very slow than Red Bull
in the straights.
Nevertheless, 16 races are still to go and Schumi will have a lot of time to catch up and register another win against his name.
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