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Schumacher searching for redemption in 2011

Roar Rookie
23rd March, 2011
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Michael Schumacher, from Germany celebrating at the end of the karting event charity race International Challenge of the Stars. AP Photo/ Nabor Goulart

Michael Schumacher, from Germany celebrating at the end of the karting event charity race International Challenge of the Stars. AP Photo/ Nabor Goulart

2011 is a crucial year for Michael Schumacher. His 2010 campaign largely disappointed, and there were many who were quick to claim that the seven-time world champion had lost motivation and wasn’t as ‘hungry’ for success as the new generation of drivers eager to make their mark on the sport.

Is this a fair judgement?

There is no doubt Schumacher struggled last year, due to a combination of factors, and he was comprehensively out-driven by his teammate Nico Rosberg. Only four times did Schumacher out-qualify his fellow German, and the 25- year-old nearly doubled his more illustrious partners’ points total.

It was the first time in Schumacher’s lengthy career that he was over-shadowed by a teammate, which was a telling measure of the steps Rosberg has taken over the last twelve months.

High hopes were held in the Mercedes camp following the unveiling of the MGP 02 and the long faces after the first test of the year were understandable when it was revealed they were considerably off the pace.

Since then, however, the car has made significant progress, with upgrades at Barcelona settling the handling of the car and enabling Schumacher to top the time-sheets on the last day of dry testing.

Whether this was show-boating for the benefit of the Mercedes board remains to be seen, but Schumacher was making positive noises nonetheless.

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“I am confident that we can compete for podium finishes,” he said, “and I am hopeful we can fight for victories at some of the races.”

Developing the car throughout the season will be key to this ambition, and that’s where Schumacher’s vast experience will be critical in this day and age of limited testing. T

his feature of F1 obviously hampered Schumacher last year, used as he was to practically unlimited testing in his Ferrari days.

He is, however, well known for his extraordinary technical feedback, and Mercedes will rely on this as they attempt to challenge the top three.

The much talked about Pirelli tyres may also work in Schumacher’s favour this year, after he struggled with the more durable (and inherent understeering) of the Bridgestones in 2010.

Word in the paddock is there will be three to four pitstops per race on the Pirellis, but as Schumacher acknowledged, “The tyres are the same for everyone, and I am sure we will all get along with them. The key in my view is finding the right strategy to make the tyres work to their maximum.”

This last point is of particular interest.

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Strategy will unfold much more ‘on the fly’ this season; especially in the opening races where teams further discover just how hard the Pirelli tyres can be punished.

Put a man with Schumacher’s race craft in the cockpit, coupled with Ross Brawn’s strategic nous on the pitwall and there is the potential for Mercedes to pull something out of the bag early on.

It seems an age since Michael Schumacher last won a title (we’ve had five different champions since then) and a sport that shifts at the pace of F1 soon moves on.

Schumacher has nothing to prove in F1, except to himself. Being out-driven by Nico Rosberg last year would have smarted, and will provide much of the impetus to lift his game in 2011.

Rosberg is the German driver Mercedes is putting their long term future in the hands of, so if Schumacher wants to punctuate his reputation as one of sport’s greatest drivers, now is the time.

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