Michael Schumacher, GP2 test, Jerez, 2010

Pictures: Michael Schumacher starts GP2 test

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Michael Schumacher has begun his three-day test in a GP2 car as he prepares for his return to F1 later this year.

Schumacher, who turned 41 last week, is driving at the Jerez circuit in Spain between now and Thursday. Here’s the first pictures from his test.

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Michael Schumacher GP2 test pictures

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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60 comments on “Pictures: Michael Schumacher starts GP2 test”

  1. Red helmet. Contraversial!

    1. Ah but with a three-pointed star on top. Conflicted!

      1. It doesn’t look right. Surely he won’t keep his Ferrari Red helmet whilst at Mercedes.

        1. Hope he will change this red to blue like before 2000 i loved that helmet

          1. Yer I think he’ll reveal a new helmet at the car launch, he’s just keeping us wating.

          2. Yeah!!!
            I entered this article with the aim of pointing that out!

            I never accepted the stupid all-red design.

    2. I hope his 2010 helmet will be have the horizontal German flag & blue top as it was from the early days until Monaco 2000. I regard this helmet design as simple and elegant and way better than all these red late versions with Chinese dragons and stuff.

  2. still got the old helmet style, i wonder if he will change it for the start of the season?

    1. oh i see it better now. red with merc symbol, duh :)

    2. No he won’t.

  3. this has to be the most exciting pre season to F1 in a long time.

  4. The GP2 series on Twitter have posted some more pictures including this one of the timing screen: http://twitpic.com/xrzmb

    1. 1:39.419

  5. do we know if he is on the pace? what is a quick time for gp2??

    1. This is Michael Schumacher were talking about, give him a few laps and he’ll be on the pace.

      1. This is completely new gp2 car – I don’t know is there any previous laptime to compare with.

      2. Give him two years and he’s still off the pace.

  6. Great, he keeps his red helmet!!!
    I don’t like drivers switching their helmet designs like their underpants (Hello S. Vettel, F. Alonso….), the helmet is something that identifies the driver and should onnly be changed in exceptional circumstances. Schumacher only changed it in 2000 to avoid confusion with Rubens’ helmet.
    But one-off designs, e.g. for home GPs, are OK in my opinion.

    1. I think what Nick Heidfeld Did for charity last year was ok aswell.

    2. Prisoner Monkeys
      12th January 2010, 11:35

      Great, he keeps his red helmet!!!

      I don’t think he will in the actual season. Right now, he’s focused on getting back into his A-game. The design of his helmet is a secondary consideration.

    3. Hope he keeps it, he’ll be easy to spot. Might help him too when the driver in front sees that in the mirrors, like Ayrton Senna or Hamilton’s yellow helmets.

      1. I was about to make a very similar comment until I realised you already had!

    4. Totally agree. I could just about get on board with Jenson’s Brawn-ified helmet lest year, but really hope he goes back to his old red-white-blue design now he’s with McLaren…

      Actually my all time favourite drivers helmet is the one used by Graham and Damon Hill…I think purely because of its simplicity and the fact that father and son both used the same design. (Helped that they were British)

      1. Yeah. simple helmet designs are the best. I also liked DC’s helmet.
        I think I read somewhere that JB’s and RB’s “Brawn-ified” helmets were initially supposed to be one-offs for Melbourne, but for some reason they kept them for most of the season.

        1. I think because they started winning!! Funny isn’t it how Jenson’s winning streak ending seemed to coincide with when he made a change to his helmet…

      2. Accidental Mick
        12th January 2010, 13:39

        Graham Hill’s helmet was based on the cap of the London Rowing Club for whom he rowed stroke.

        1. And Damon’s design was the same as his father’s!

    5. José Baudaier
      12th January 2010, 21:37

      I also agree with you, the helmet is part of the driver’s identity. It shouldn’t be changed every week.

      And speaking of helmets, I once had a excel’s chart game where you had to name the owners of several f1 driver’s helmets. Don’t know if this game have already been around the site, but if I manage to find it again I’ll post it.

      1. José Baudaier
        12th January 2010, 23:31

        Here it is, have fun guys, let’s see who gets the 100 drivers first:

        http://colunas.sportv.com.br/files/197/theme/Vanepops5.xls

        Note that you need to insert the driver’s full name, e.g., “Ayrton Senna”, not only “Senna”.

  7. a quick time in jerez for gp2 is about: 1:26:300

    1. from the picture of the timing screen, schumi did either a 1:30 or a 1:38. can’t see properly…

  8. Man that is going to clash with the grey

    1. As Keith states, this is exactly what he should keep. I think it looks great and will only assist him when he comes up on back markers.

      Of course if you want your opponent to have problems seeing you then you can try a black car. Jackie Stewart complained to Emerson Fittipaldi that he could not see the JPS Lotus 72 in his mirrors as it was mainly all black.

      1. That’s kind of ironic considering Jackie drove dark blue cars for most of his career

  9. Bit of a grey day in southern Spain today then. At least it’s not snowing.

  10. thanks for the images!

    however, these are obviously radically lower quality pictures, than the ones this site used to represent.

    have those recent copyright issues something to do with that?

    1. No it’s to do with site performance, I’m trying out some different image optimisation techniques.

      1. Are you resaving those images in a jpeg with “quality 8” in Photoshop? This can compact even more the image and keep its original size and quality…

  11. I hope he keeps the red too. Consider as a legacy of Ferrari great epic deeds.

  12. Why do GP2 cars look more like F1 cars than F1 cars?

    1. true. and gp2 cars still have less downforce/ better overtaking without having stupid looking wings.

  13. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I see a picture of Schumi, his head doesn’t look like it is on straight.

    Could this be the secret to why he is so fast?

  14. The new kid in the grid is having an early start in the 2010 season.

  15. 1:39.419. record is 1:38.2

  16. well, the source of your lap record stays your secret i guess..
    http://www.circuitodejerez.com/en/records.cfm
    tells me that a proper gp2-lap would be in the 1:25s.
    also, i don’t give much on a timing screen shot from some installation-lap ;D

  17. OMG, check out this video a Schumacher fan made: I’m still laughing.

    “Hitler is working as a manager of the Ferrari Formula1 Team. See his reaction when he learns that Schumacher signed with Mercedes GP and he might have serious problem with that.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnPDnnR2ZI8

    1. That bit from “Downfall” has been used loads for things like this. Make sure you see the original film it’s excellent.

      1. I saw it. It’s great, indeed.

        :)

      2. José Baudaier
        12th January 2010, 21:42

        This must be the most spoofed scene ever.

  18. Added a few more pictures – must’ve gotten wet there judging by this one: https://www.racefans.net/2010/01/12/schumacher-starts-gp2-test-pictures/2010-gp-series-testing-9/

  19. commenting on something other than the helmet, why is it that GP2 ended with such a visually more friendly car ? I know its not only about how the car looks, but how fast it actually is but I hate the 09 looks which don’t seem to be streamlined for speed like before. I believe GP2 cars are also able to follow each other closely as well. I really hate the 09 aerodynamic rules.

    1. GP2 cars are purposly built so they can follow each other better. Also, having young drivers with strong engine and less aero grip means races are a lot of fun.

      The worst thing is that the sprint race is before F1 race so F1 regularly looks dull compared to action-packed gp2 (reverse grids also help in this).

    2. Agreed,what strikes me about the photos is how bloody awful the F1 cars look compared to the beautiful racy looking GP2’s.

  20. Is it just me or does Schumacher’s helmet looks dark orange rather than red..?
    I completely agree about having a recognizable helmet, whether he keeps a red one it’s up to him, but I hope he chooses something as bright so that he’s easily spotted..

    Check out this close-up pic of his helmet from the GP2 Series twitter page: http://twitpic.com/xrwhk
    Comments seem to suggest that the Chinese writing on his helmet are names of his wife and daughter, it only shows one side so maybe the other side has the name of his son..

    Interesting fact about JB’s helmet in regards to his performance.. One of the most images stuck in my head is the close-up of his car with his (water melon-like) helmet in the middle of the screen lol I hope he goes for something nicer this year.. I could imagine him in something with a Union Jack theme navy with red details..

  21. And that GP2 car is a Renault, isn’t it?

    1. It is powered by Renault.

      1. And the GP2 chassis is made by Dallara, which is also producing a chassis for Campos to use in F1 in 2010.

  22. I guess he’s using last years racing suits…

  23. Schumacher best time was 1.24.621.

    This is from the Jerez records for the best GP2 laptime
    GP2 Series – 2008 – Kamui Kobayashi – 1’24”262

    http://www.circuitodejerez.com/en/records.cfm

    I got Schumachers laptime from : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/motoring/news/article.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=10620350

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