What's up with Schumie?

[edog1977]

For sure, the car is not the best on the grid. Considering that his teammate is second in the championship, I have a hard time blaming it all on the car.

That being said, take a look at this:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83149

From the article:
"The one he had got damaged during the first few races and we repaired it as best we could at the races. But now we are back at base we are going to re-introduce the test chassis and he will be using that in Barcelona."

If what they claim is true, that could be another factor leading to his lack of pace compared to his teammate.  Of course the teams PR departments are masters of spin so I'll take it with a grain if salt.

[Saurdaukar]

That's interesting.

I dunno - I cant take anything away from Michael.  He was a truly remarkable driver.  The best?  Dunno - but you cant argue with his record.  I still stand by Mika as the more talented driver.  During that period, I think Mika would have won just as many races as Michael did had he raced for Ferrari.

Mort - thought you'd appreciate this - from a couple weekends ago.  



First time out with the new one; debating build-in-progress.  Set up very well but needs a serious diet.  Would love to get it down to about 2,600lbs but $$$ is, as always, the limiting factor.  Continuously "upping" the brake pads as I chew through them.  Pagid Yellow's are next... and they better have some friggen longevity for the price.

[morfiend]

Nice Mazz

 those are some nice buns on the back,what size??

 I think 4 cyl. turbo would be a real treat,afterall thats what they used back then,the BMW turbo used old 2002 blocks!

 As for Kimi,I agree his car control is second to none but his lack of selfcontrol is more the issues I'm talking about.

 Was it his last season with M/C at Monaco when he crashed and then went aboard some Yacht to drown his sorrows?

 I believe this is the reason Alonso got his seat but then again it's only rumours that have been going around take if for what it's worth.


   I wonder what 2000cc's 20,000 rpm and 6 atmospheres of boost would put out???       


   

 

[SIK1]

  I wonder what 2000cc's 20,000 rpm and 6 atmospheres of boost would put out???        

Most likely a rod...

Shumie's problem is he's too old and he's been away for too long.

[Saurdaukar]

Nice Mazz

 those are some nice buns on the back,what size??

225/285 F/R.  Touch of understeer at the limit, especially in off-camber corners, but easily modulated with a slight breathe to bring the slip angle back to neutral.  Debating 245's for the front but the current setup is safer... rear is about as planted as it can be barring any *really* stupid throttle snaps.  Extra set of wheels and tires are somewhere in the Midwest in a UPS box and they are 225/265.  We'll see how that feels.  Either way, the suspension is set up very nicely.  Tad more aggressive than RS specs and the corner balance job my guy did down here is astonishingly good. 

Posted it in the squad forum a couple days ago because I was able to reserve #109 for the remainder of the season.   

Most likely a rod...

 

[-tronski-]

A good opinion piece on Shuey which covers not only his problems with the W01: http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/15445.html

"Such was the hype surrounding Schumacher's return, expectations were impossibly high and now the knives are out. It seems those of us on the sidelines prize Schumacher's legacy more greatly that the man himself. "All he's going to do is damage what his achievements have been," Sir Stirling Moss told GP Week over the phone last week. "People are going to say he's passed it now, which he probably has. I can't understand why he's come back.""

 Tronsky

[Saurdaukar]

Good piece. 

"He can drive around any imbalance," said Ross Brawn in James Allen's 2007 book Michael Schumacher: The Edge of Greatness

This stuck out for me. 

The difference between the best driver in F1 and the worst driver in F1 is next to nothing.  "Driving around any imbalance" just isn't good enough.  The car and driver are either perfect or they lose 0.05 seconds per lap and finish 10th.

The margin for error just isn't big enough to accommodate these problems.

[morfiend]

Most likely a rod...

Shumie's problem is he's too old and he's been away for too long.

 Actually in the 80's Sik1 they were using this amount of boost,though the revs were in the 10to 12 thou range.The limit was 1500 cc back then and they put out the most HP of any F1 to date. I read they ran the BMW dyno past the 1200 hp limit and the engine still held together.

 So any rumours of a move to turbo and 4 cylinder engines would be a welcome change in my books,I say give the driver adjustable boost and let them have at it! With no refueling and a limited amount of fuel on board to keep the cars incheck.

  I still think it's far to early in the season to surmize about Shummie,ya he's older but I dont think thats the deciding factor,as Mazz has said the difference between 1st and 10th is all about the car.Although this years field has the biggest spread in times I've seen in years,remember when you were allowed 105% qualifying time? If you were more than 5% slower you just didnt make the field.

 I think around race 10 to 12 we'll see the cream rise to the top,much like we say last year.

   

PS: Mazz,did you say tighter than an RS,must be a sweet ride....you drive it on the street too...dont you.

[SIK1]

Morf I remember the cars of the '80's and they were wild too say the least. I also remember each team used their own fuel blend. Qualifying engines didn't live for more than ten minutes, and it wasn't uncommon for a single car to go through four engines a weekend. Not saying that they couldn't build it but I do think it would be very difficult to keep the current engine use rules and run the engine you describe.

As far as Shumie goes I hope he is successful in his venture back into F1. I'm a big fan and have been since his days with Benetton. I do believe though that he is past his prime and has spent too long out of an F1 car to make a successful comeback. The fact that he is consistently out performed by his teammate who is a decent driver but has never shown the level of skill Michael once was capable of seems to bear this out. As you point out from about mid-season on should really show which drivers, and teams are the real deal. Again I would gladly eat my words if it meant he could win another championship.

[morfiend]

 I agree Sik,but then half the cylinders,half the cost,twice the amount of engines....

 The engine rule was an atempt to cut costs as the FIA thought the well heeled teams would run away with things.

 Personally I think it's a stupid rule but thats just me,I still think the 2.4 litre engines are just too small for "the premire motorsport" F2 uses 3 litres and it just doesnt make sense to me that F1 has smaller mills,now add a turbo and I'll quit complaining....

   

[SIK1]

It would be nice if they could have some real fire breathing monsters again and were allowed to run how ever many engines they wished, or could afford. That being said it does appear to me that some of the lesser teams are able to compete a little better with the big guns. So maybe the measures the FIA have taken are working as they have intended. Can't believe I'm sticking up for the FIA.

A turbo'd 2.4L V8 that revs to 18k could be a wicked thing.

[saggs]

Looking like I may have to eat my words about Vettel and the championship.

Suddenly, the last 2 weekends Mark Webber has been the Red Bull to beat.  He just took pole again in Monaco. 

Personally I would LOVE for Webber to get a championship, he's always been one of my favorite drivers, is more of a gentleman than many drivers, and in the past always seemed to be the unluckiest driver out there.  Not to mention that this may be his last season.  I'll definitely be rooting for him in Monaco.


Back on the topic of Schumacher I loved how the commentators, (not Brundle so much as that other guy) as soon as Schumacher does better in a race then Rosberg, start talking about favoritism and Schumacher taking over the team and imposing his will and bla bla bla, etc, etc.

Guy seems a bit  to me.

[SIK1]

From what I have heard they(Mercedes) are building the car more towards Shumie's driving style.

The way I see it it will probably take most of the season just for him to get back into the groove with the ban on testing in effect. That being said, only time will tell if he can regain his championship form.

[mechanic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RvLyYqgGqU&playnext_from=TL&videos=M6gr47k9TsI&feature=grec

these cars would be more fun, technology is slowly making all sports less entertaining imo.

[saggs]

From what I have heard they(Mercedes) are building the car more towards Shumie's driving style.

The way I see it it will probably take most of the season just for him to get back into the groove with the ban on testing in effect. That being said, only time will tell if he can regain his championship form.

Could be true, Rosberg just out-qualified him in Monaco though so he's doing alright with the new car too.   But really as far as the championship goes I think it's a moot point.  Mercedes seems to be lagging behind Ferrari and Mclaren as far as the cars go.  And they all are lagging behind Red Bull.  The only fault of the Red Bull cars so far has been reliability.