I don't know. I've heard him when being interviewed by, say, the BBC saying things like "I think Lewis will have a good chance" and things like that in the past, and I think this is no more than that. He's said before that he gets to watch F1 like a fan- that is to say, they make the tyres they're asked to make and then sit back and let the teams decide who wins races - and the tone sounded like he was just having a light-hearted punt. Even if he were to say that a particular driver is particularly good with such and such tyre, he's entitled to his opinion and, as I say, has made broad predictions in the past without so much fuss.raymondu999 wrote:Hembery was probably making an educated guess, or was making a punt based on the unpredictability of this season.
Either way I thought it was a bad move on Paul's part... if his prediction turns true, then there will be a group of people accusing Pirelli & Paul of race-fixing, giving Schumacher a special set of tyres (some people will start saying, "Oh look... the Pirelli boss says Schumacher, and Schumacher wins. What a coincidence")
and if Schumacher doesn't win, some people will castigate Hembery. They'll be saying how Hembery, even with close knowledge of how each car+driver package is using the tyres, was unable to make a solid prediction.
Like they all where ashamed at one of the difficult and demanding circuits in f1Max Speed wrote:and if any of those let a man of Schumacher's age beat them fair and square they should be ashamed of themselves...
You're reading far too much into it. Hembrey has no idea whatsoever about whether bad luck will play any part, all he was saying is that Mercedes and Schumacher in particular looked pretty good at Monaco so should look pretty good in Valencia.ArchAngel wrote:I guess what's strange here is Schumacher's improbable run of 'bad luck', followed by Hembrey's sudden prediction from out of the blue that Michael's a favorite to win in Valencia. Is there reason to believe that Valencia will finally see a respite from the spate of DNFs that have been plaguing Schumacher? Does Pirelli's data actually solidly back a strong performance from Mercedes in Valencia?
All seven races from Schumacher plagued by some form of bad luck or another... What're the odds? Seven different winners from the first seven races of the season... What're the odds? And now, to suggest that a driver who's had sh!t for luck from his team emerging as an eight new winner?? Cynical conspiracist would point to F1's impending IPO as a major 'influence' on how 'exciting' this season has been, so far. I certainly hope there's no truth to such conspiratorial suggestions.
What are the odds that eleven people would win races in '82? You want to be cynical? How about you consider the fact that Schumacher taking another WDC would be the absolute best thing for business and manufacturing a season-long battle between him and some younger guy (Rosberg or Vettel would be best) to be determined at the US GP (we do love our underdogs and comeback stories) makes far more sense if you want to be that ridiculous.ArchAngel wrote:I guess what's strange here is Schumacher's improbable run of 'bad luck', followed by Hembrey's sudden prediction from out of the blue that Michael's a favorite to win in Valencia. Is there reason to believe that Valencia will finally see a respite from the spate of DNFs that have been plaguing Schumacher? Does Pirelli's data actually solidly back a strong performance from Mercedes in Valencia?
All seven races from Schumacher plagued by some form of bad luck or another... What're the odds? Seven different winners from the first seven races of the season... What're the odds? And now, to suggest that a driver who's had sh!t for luck from his team emerging as an eight new winner?? Cynical conspiracist would point to F1's impending IPO as a major 'influence' on how 'exciting' this season has been, so far. I certainly hope there's no truth to such conspiratorial suggestions.
I suppose you're right. I guess that given how much of a factor the Pirellis have been in this season so far, Hembrey's pronouncement favoring a particular team & driver for the next race just struck me as a bit... improper? Results & data from previous races might support his prediction, but for a tyre supplier who's serving equally the needs of the entire field to suddenly pick a specific driver & team to maximize the tyres... It just doesn't seem like smart PR. If by some crazy twist of fate Schumacher actually does win in Valencia, then the feel-good sentiments from such a result could well be overshadowed by (unfair) suspicion & more conspiracy theories.myurr wrote:You're reading far too much into it. Hembrey has no idea whatsoever about whether bad luck will play any part, all he was saying is that Mercedes and Schumacher in particular looked pretty good at Monaco so should look pretty good in Valencia.
Monaco pole position. [...]clarkiesyeah wrote:I'll throw this out there, it isn't my opinion, but it was suggested to me earlier by a drunk. Schumacher and his team are making the mechanical issues happen to hide the truth, that Michael simply cant race on these pirellis.
Are the opinions of a drunk outside a pub utter garbage or does the dude have something?