Schumacher “not happy at all” with eighth

2011 Turkish Grand Prix

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Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, Istanbul, 2011

Michael Schumacher was unhappy at qualifying over a second behind team mate Nico Rosberg.

Schumacher lines up eighth for tomorrow’s race, five places behind Rosberg. He said: “No, I’m not happy al all.

“Being so far off, that’s a bit unusual. It didn’t really work out at all. The grip, for whatever reason, just wasn’t there compared to what I had this morning.

“I struggled already in Q2 and the track certainly was better than it was this morning and we couldn’t reproduce what we did this morning. So we need to understand what’s going on.

“The more I pushed, the more things went wrong and just in the end there was no grip left.”

Team principal Ross Brawn would not be drawn on the details of the “magic paddle” Schumacher was told about during qualifying – other than to confirm both cars have the device.

But he did say the team had made no major changes to the car this weekend:

“Interesting business, Formula 1, because we haven’t made any dramatic changes to the car, we’ve just got it working properly.

“Hopefully we can start to bring some improvements that do work now. But a great effort by everybody, I’m really pleased.”

2011 Turkish Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    65 comments on “Schumacher “not happy at all” with eighth”

    1. Icemangrins
      7th May 2011, 14:36

      what the hell?

    2. car looked a handfull at times – or he was driving it to the ragged edge

      1. I think Schuey needs to smoothen his driving style. He makes too many steering corrections in comparison to the likes of Vettel and Hamilton.

        1. That has everything to do with the car though. When the car slides you have to correct. Lewis and Vettel’s cars are simply not sliding around as much, and so they dont have to correct as vigorously.

        2. To be honest, the Turkey track never really was his best.

        3. He did look shakier than most going through Turn 8.

      2. It’s probably something as simple as tyre temperatures.

        If he’s overdriving the car that overheats the tyres and they lose grip.

        We’ve heard it dozen’s of times from other drivers.

        1. I reckon it was as well, there’s no way he lost that much pace just by driving worse than the rest.

          Unfortunate for him although at least he got comfortably into Q3 this time.

    3. Schumacher incredibly did not beat the time he set in FP3 during QLF.
      And it’s not the first time he does so. The obvious trend where all the top driver improve their times (most of the times considerably) during all 4 saturday sessions will always abandon him at some point.

      Of course he’s very much likely not what he used to be anymore, but this is very strange nonetheless.

      1. It has a lot to do with tyre temperatures and pressure. The track didnt evolve as they would have liked.

    4. It was not only MS who felt this way during qualy, after FP3. I guess, it depends on a certain setup direction, which they took and which affected them badly in the end. Maybe it is a bit more race oriented or tire safe. Nevertheless, it is going to be spectacular tomorrow, i can feel it.

    5. “whats that on the wall?” Brilliant!

      1. Icemangrins
        7th May 2011, 15:45

        that’s just disrespect….they should grow up

        1. To be fair, when it’s all said and done, they can compare trophy cabinets. Schumacher has seven times as many wins and seven more WDCs than Coulthard.

          After all, there is a reason why one of them is behind the wheel whereas the other is behind the mic. Coulthard tries (and succeeds to a degree) to be unbiased, but his lack of objectivity shines through.

          1. Coulthard always seems very bitter, but then again could we not say the same about DC in DTM? He is constantly near the bottom.

            Besides did anyone watch the RoC? He was outclassing everyone.

      2. Whilst quite funny, that was massively unprofessional.

        1. Coulthard seems to have something against Schumacher, about the only thing him and Eddie have in common!! Schumi blocks Hamilton for bit and Eddie goes full flow about him driving Barrichello into the pit wall last year!
          They should have an official “Bash Schumi” segment every race were they can just go at it!

          1. Icemangrins
            7th May 2011, 17:32

            that’s the point isn’t…. speak trash in front of the mic; chuckle & brag about that fact they insulted the great Schumacher yet again this weekend; gain some publicity in Britain… It is unfortunate, I got to listen to these Idiots every race weekend as I live in Canada.

      3. what was the context of that, I didn’t get it

        1. Basically he is not good enough anymore and should give up. But Schumi has done well so far this season. A little unlucky in the Aus race and quali in Malaysia. I expect him to do well tomorrow.

        2. Icemangrins
          8th May 2011, 2:41

          As soon as Schumi appeared in the frame, DC made a point that he ignored Schumi in the foreground and looking at something on the wall…. it is his way of insulting Schumi and his fans

          1. I thought that ‘writing on the wall’ meant things are coming to an end/you’re doomed

            ???

    6. Both Mercs were bottoming out quite badly at the exit of Turn 8. Are they running a much softer suspension set-up than the others, McLaren for instance?

      1. Also it was weird to see Schumacher get it so wrong in Q3. He was almost half a second slower than his Q2 best.

    7. So we need to understand what’s going on.

      Age.

      1. Are you being funny or is age an explanation for being half a second slower than just 10 minutes earlier?!

        1. Yes, ‘age’ is exactly the reason for being slower than 10 minutes earlier.
          When older you can pull off things you did when younger but its much more hit and miss.
          Age means he just isn’t anywhere near as good or consistent and that is a biological fact. Just research reaction times and muscle response. The fact that he once was so great is the only reason he can just about make the top 10

          1. Schumi doesn’t use his age as an excuse.. but his fans comfort themselves by using it as a perfectly logical explanation for Schumi not stepping up when it matters.

            1. Theres no bigger schumi fan than me out there but im starting to find this painfull to watch.

            2. It’s clear that someone who was such a great competitor and champion is now past it (i.e. too old), and the likes of Rosberg are now better/faster.

            3. And yes, DMC, it is rather painful to watch.

            4. me too DMC… my partner laugh at me everytime MSC didn’t perform well. saying “your idol is too old”…but still I believe he can do well on race day!

            5. I’ll give up on MS, only when he gives up on himself.

              Those of you talking about age should remember that the oldest pole sitter was 47.

          2. Yes but it is strange that his starts are amazing lately, something that was always his weakness and starts involve co-ordination and reaction to alight going out.

      2. Tell that to Fangio who won his first championship at 40 and last one at 46. This is the car.

        1. Yes, and we’re not in the 1950’s, where fitness counted for much less.

          1. And the driver quality was most likely a lot lower. I look at you Moss, greatest never to win a championship…pfft

            1. Haha. Couldn’t agree more, but I thought I was alone in that…

            2. And the driver quality was most likely a lot lower

              The driver quality of drivers were a whole lot lower when Schumi was winning titles as well.

            3. Yes, the 1950s blokes had it easy. If they were slow with their reactions they didn’t need to worry about it nearly as much, afterall they’d be dead.

            4. @Todfod- it wasn’t. Alonso, Raikkonen, Hakkinen and others were there.

          2. And car technology counted for much less. Its asinine to discount what the early Formula 1 drivers accomplished, especially Fangio.

            1. Yes, but I wasn’t discounting it, merely pointing out that there are reasons for why Schumacher hasn’t able to do the same (and why 40+ drivers are so rare nowadays).

            2. But I agree, it still does put into perspective what Fangio did achieve.

          3. Schumacher is incredibly fit. Fitness can’t be it.

            1. Reactions have very little to do with fitness, and that is more likely to be the problem. MSC is very fit you are correct that’s no the problem.
              I still feel he can get podiums and even win a race with a bit of luck, but he won’t do it consistently, as stated above

    8. I spent five years hoping anyone other than Schumacher would win the races. Now I’m just desperate to see him on the podium.

      Every time thinks look to be going well it all goes wrong again.

      1. See that kind of annoys me, unlike Vettel now Schumacher at Ferrari showed how to become a champion, not just have the best car put on your lap and told to drive it.

        It was fascinating watching the Ferrari team evolve around him and once he got his first championship for them I was wishing for more. A lot of people don’t realise what they were seeing as the best driver in the world pummeled everyone practically every race.

        I just wish he could have a good weekend and look forward but he just seems to be knocked back all the time.

    9. Not the best afternoon for him but at least he has a bit of fighting talk about himself! He’s usually far too accepting.

      If what Brawn said is true about getting the car working we should be in for an interesting season from Mercedes. Rosberg was strong.

    10. I don`t think there was anything wrong with what MB and DC said about MSC. The same sort of thing would be said of any driver who was consistently so well down on his teammate with the same equipment, there is`nt another pair in the field with such disparity, and the fact that he is seven times WDC means nothing if he cannot cut it now. Time he retired, for good this time, and give someone else a shot.

      (Or it could be that he he is still a good driver, the car is just rubbish and Nico is an absolute superstar !)

    11. He`s past it. Plain and simple. The excuses have simply dried up along with his competitive edge. He was the best and now he`s just the rest. End of story.

      1. hmmmm……

        If ever he does get the car sorted to his liking, It’ll be slim pickings for everyone else.

        1. If he was driving a RBR…. Rosberg would still be infront and the others (top three teams) scraping it out with MSC

          1. A bit like Webber currently then.

            1. Yes, pretty much, I believe so….

      2. Those were not Kubica’s thoughts at turn 1 in Korea last year.

      3. I saw his fp3 lap and it was classic michael controlled aggression,i think he was half asecond quicker than rosberg.So the speed is there when the cars working.

    12. We’re talking about a guy who’s over 42 years old, and that was retired for 3. Comebacks are difficult nowadays with so limited testing, and only 6 people have won at an older age than he is now. 5 of them were back in the 50s (Fagioli, Farina, Fangio, Taruffi and Hanks), and Jack Brabham in 1970 (age 43). In more recent times, only Nigel Mansell was able to win a single race at the age of 41 after a year retired (but still younger than Michael now). More remarkably he won his only championship at the age of 38, which is really unusual for modern times. However his first victory came at the age of 32, so we can say he was a late bloom. Schumacher won his first GP at the age of 23… nearly 19 years ago!! Would be good to see how many drivers (if any) have kept competitive for such a long period of time!

      So in stead of being so critical, I’d rather try to judge what he’s trying to accomplish and respect it. I agree it’s sad to see a 7 times WC fighting for 6th, but man, he’s having fun out there! (Loved to see him holding Alonso so long on older tyres last race). Plus I believe that if he gets things together and circumstances favour him he can get that win that will add yet another record for him (nobody is in both lists of the top 10 younger and older winners). Only time will tell. Meaanwhile, enjoy the exciting season that we have ahead!

      1. Plus I believe that if he gets things together and circumstances favour him he can get that win that will add yet another record for him (nobody is in both lists of the top 10 younger and older winners).

        And he’d join Jack Brabham as the only race winners in 3 different decades.

    13. The grip, for whatever reason, just wasn’t there compared to what I had this morning.

      Looks like Schumi has been trading excuse notes with Jenson.

      1. Jenson was complaining about balance, not grip.

    14. Schumi need to provide that magic in the race today.Not sure where he made the mistake as he was 1 second off his team-mate.No footage of his.The car looked good this season but it failed by the driver.Did he need to change his driving style a bit so that he can adjust to the car response?

    15. His qualifying time is worse than his fp3. And he seems to regularly perform worse in qualifying than in fps. Perhaps he has a complex of qualifying. Or perhaps he is not able to quickly bring the tyres in temperature. I think he feels the pressure and cannot perform outstanding.

      1. If that’s the issue, just one effort where everything works and he’s at the front will turn it around.

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