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Schumacher joining Ferrari (25 posts)

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smifaye said 2 years, 3 months ago:

I think the main point I was trying to say is that drivers can have a certain influence over a team’s decisions, which can lead to a team becoming more successful.

Of course the driver can’t be the sole influence, but they can drive the team to design better cars. In Schumacher’s case, he had proved he was a great driver and Ferrari needed to provide a car that they felt was good enough for him. So this would help the team, give them a bit of inspiration.

Ha, mentioning the word “car”, just reminds me of last nights Top Gear!

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Asanator said 2 years, 3 months ago:

yes it is a pointless argument over semantics and I apologise for it. To be honest I had just finished reading a thread (on another, less well informed, forum) completely trashing Schumacher and Alonso and all that they, along with Ferrari, have acheived over the last 15 odd years and it made my blood boil.

Yes of course, a driver can help direct a team in a certain direction and I agree that a driver can help motivate a team onto bigger and better things, we have seen this with Schumacher at Ferrari and Alonso at Renault. I don’t really think that Mika had this effect on McLaren, it was more to do with the Mercedes/Adrian Newey combo that I mentioned earlier. Mika was always Ron’s favourite and after his near death it was natural that the team would get behind him when they eventually got a competitive car.

Sorry smifaye! ya peach! ;)

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smifaye said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Ha! Peach, brings a whole new level to the game Mario Kart! Princess Peach, driving a car (Kart)!

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JCCJCC said 2 years, 3 months ago:

The reasons where:
- money
- money
- security as SoerenKaae said: “Ferrari is a place that is secure. You know they will stay in Formula 1, and you know that there will not be somebody else taking it over, making a different strategy or, taking the focus away from racing. “

Todt took the lead of Ferrari in 1993, and things start to work in a better way, Byrne and Brawn were hired, the results had already improved in 1994 and 1995, and Todt felt it was the time to take the next step.

It was announced in the Hungarian GP in 1995 that Schumacher would drive for Ferrari in 1996-97, in the end of 1997 the contract was renewed to 1998.
With the domniation of McLaren in the early GPs of 1998 season, Schumacher started to complain about the car, and in some gossip appear suggesting Schumacher in McLaren for 1999 and so on.
But it was only a way Schumacher found to put some pressure in Ferrari and get himself a better contract, which he signed (until 2002) just before Silverstone.

@sw6559
Renault announced is retirement just before the french grandprix, and Williams was left alone with his future pending. At the moment of the presentation of the FW19 (Williams car for 1997 season) it was announced that williams will continue with Renault engines, but prepared by Mecachrome. Lack of official support from Renault, and Newey leaving to McLaren in the beginning of 1997 season, make Williams lost his way.

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Asanator said 2 years, 3 months ago:

@JCCJCC – Byrne and Brawn were with Benetton until 1996. Schumacher didn’t start to complain about the car, he started to complain about the performance difference between the Goodyear tyres and The Bridgestones which were new and newly grooved for 1998. Goodyear upped their game a couple of races into the season which is one of the reasons the Ferrari’s results inproved. During the season, the rumours about Schumacher going to McLaren were by the press, there was never any doubt that Schumacher wouldn’t re-sign with Ferrari, you make it sound like it was all about money but it wasn’t. He was widely acknowledged to be the best driver on the grid and Ferrari more than got their moneys worth!

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JCCJCC said 2 years, 3 months ago:

@Asanator
You’re right about Brawn and Byrne.

I don’t make it sound like it was about money. But I believe that money (or the expectation of more money in the future) is the main fuel that makes people do some changes. If he won everything in a small team like Benetton, a challenge would be win everything with a smaller team like Minardi, moving to the biggest team is not a big challenge imo.

I’m not sure if it was only the press who rumoured about Schumacher moving to McLaren, if I remember well Willy Webber also left that door open.

And btw, You’re right about the Goodyear tyres, the complains where directed to Goodyear too.
About he being the best driver in the grid at that time and value his money, I completely agree with you. But I remember that Irvine almost won the title for Ferrari in 99, and lost it because Ferrari ordered him no to pass Schumacher in France.

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Icthyes said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Further – why do you think it took so long for the combination to really work and provide the best car in the early 2000′s? That appears to show that it wasn’t solely Schumachers arrival that influenced the winning abilities of the Ferrari.

I’ll offer a theory:
1996 – first year, teething problems
1997 – first championship challenge against a Williams which had had a massive head start in being the best car from the last year (remember when we had stable rules?)
1998 – up against Newey, the king of regulation changes, went to final round
1999 – lost Schumacher, he would have won that title with a round to spare IMO (he was 6 points ahead of Irvine before his broken leg)
2000 – finally won the championship even after three consecutive DNFs (and four from five races) mid-season, by 19 points. Even I forget how big a victory margin it was (19 points with one more DNF than Hakkinen)
2001 – from here the domination in the final points margin makes itself apparent with many challengers, but none consistent

Okay only the 1996-1999 part is relevant, but that’s my answer!

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Ned Flanders said 2 years, 3 months ago:

This thread title is extremely misleading!

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Scribe said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Weal, I think you could resaonably come here and sit on the fence. Why not all the reasons, the man doesn’t seem obsessed by money but it would have played a role. He clearly was obssessed by winning, and he’d already done that so winning in different or more challenging circumstances? Maybe. Because it didn’t work out elsewhere? Quite possibly.

He certainly played a massive role in helping Ferrari to the point where they could become so dominant, as did Tody, Byrne (I’ve often really wanted to know the arguments for him vs Newey. I know I’ll start a thread) and Brawn.

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Dizzy-A said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Moving to the biggest team is not a big challenge imo

Moving to a dominant car (i.e. Williams) wouldn’t have been a challenge. Moving to the team that hadn’t won a WDC since 1979 and had won 2 races in 5 years does count.

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