Future of Schumacher

[Leon]

For 3 years they sacrificed his reputation just to save their --- brand image.
Respect to Schumacher that in all this time he never dropped just a single negative word against such a team. For me he became a bigger and more respectable man by this.

exactly

[kaller]

btw the obove inventive and lotus rumblings come straight from "Spiegel -online" not always the best source for information in germany but definetely not a tabloid..

http://www.spiegel.de/sport/formel1/for ... 58678.html




guys ,sorry it´s only in german .


But a lot of important points in there: Schumacher feeling to be let down by MGP /Brawn he had the perception they owe him to wait for his decision and he did not really think of them looking elsewhere (as they had promised!) .

So they left Michael fuming and signed Hamilton. the background maybe :They told the board it was the drivers who were just not up to it ..with Hamilton everything would improve +lauda as the saviors-or final piece in the puzzle...

You can find the lotus+ ecclestone connection mentioned + the ambassador /cars /money incentive story inside there as well...so at least there is some truth in this.

Mind you, these are not facts at all in this article, it's just mere speculation, fantasy and assumptions on behalf of the Spiegel author.

Besides, do you really think the board would be stupid enough to buy the "it's all the weak drivers' fault" excuse? Come on...

[kaller]

For 3 years they sacrificed his reputation just to save their --- brand image.
Respect to Schumacher that in all this time he never dropped just a single negative word against such a team. For me he became a bigger and more respectable man by this.

exactly

Why do some of you guys blame Merc for this? It's not like they forced MSC to join them with a loaded gun pointed to his head. And it's not like he could have dropped out himself earlier in grace.
It's MSC fault that he was rather undecided if he wants to continue and it's his fault that he was still undecided even when Hamilton turned up on the block.

Also I can't understand all this "they lied to their drivers/fans" talk. Sure their claims and promises might be a bit forward and optimistic, but others do the same. Actually I appreceate that attitude more than the fake modesty some people/teams carry before them like a shield. Plus Haug is actually a decent guy, he really loves racing, enjoys what he is doing and is almost always a fair sportsman, which is something you can't say about a lot of other people involved in F1 - Jordan, Montezemolo, Horner anyone?

[FoxHound]

Mercedes are like any other team, the car is more important than the driver. McLaren showed that in their unwillingness to pay hamiltons demands.
Mercedes tried and failed with Schumacher. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
It appears some people will now buy an Audi becuase Mercedes ditched Schumacher....

Had Schumacher been more committal earlier this year, we would not be discussing hamiltons move. Schumacher adopted the wait and see approach, and he waited to see too long. You do not protract negotiations like this, as Im lead to believe Mercedes are renegotiating all their sponsorship arrangements for 2013 and beyond.
How do you do this effectively not knowing who the driver will be in 2013?

Mercedes hand was forced by this tardiness, and got the blue chip driver everyone wants, Hamilton. It's a big v sign to Schumacher and his fans that's for sure. But I can't help feel that Schumacher is the responsible party in all this.

[mep]

Also I can't understand all this "they lied to their drivers/fans" talk. Sure their claims and promises might be a bit forward and optimistic, but others do the same. Actually I appreceate that attitude more than the fake modesty some people/teams carry before them like a shield. Plus Haug is actually a decent guy, he really loves racing, enjoys what he is doing and is almost always a fair sportsman, which is something you can't say about a lot of other people involved in F1 - Jordan, Montezemolo, Horner anyone?

Are we talking about the same Haug here?
I am sick of Haugs lame excuses. He is a good politician but I don’t like to be treated like an idiot by him. Let’s just bring the latest version of Haugs excuses up here. DTM qualifying in Valencia, all Mercedes cars finished last 1 second behind BMW and Audi. Haug just mentions how bad Audi was in the last race and blames the track for the poor Mercedes performance.
Ooooh Ja Ja, it’s the track but the other cars are driving on exactly the same track Mr. Haug and they do it much quicker. It’s your car which is totally unsettled over bumps. He would do much better to say the truth instead of blaming everything else but never the car.

[ninogenio]

@foxhound,

this is based on the asumption schumacher really did have a choice earlier in the season. and that mercedes are telling the whole truth here.

the only problem i have buying into the schumacher waited too long story is that its emerged that hamilton has been in talks with the team for pretty much the whole year. did anyone else notice hes been seen walking back and forth the mercedes garage many times this whole year. in one of the earlier wet practice sessions he stood infront of schumachers car i cant remember which weekend but thats when i started feeling a little uncomfortable, and did the whole stare down thing.

my honest take on things is that after a few races at the begining of the year schumacher fell short of a performance clause through no "FAULT" of his own. then he had too wait knowing hamiton would take his seat if he so wished and msc only chance of 2013 drive with merc would be hamilton doing a mclaren 360.

looking at all the comment from team and msc it defintitly was not a clear case of shumacher undecisive there were other factors ie nick fry in the background starting talks with xix's fuller at the newyear.

[FoxHound]

It’s your car which is totally unsettled over bumps. He would do much better to say the truth instead of blaming everything else but never the car.

If it is unsettled by bumps at one track and not another how can it be anything other than track conditions? Sorry but the example you use is no good.

[diego1960]

It appears some people will now buy an Audi becuase Mercedes ditched Schumacher....

I certainly will, when I find the money needed for such a purchase. And this comes from a hardcore Mercedes fan. I think no one who is neutral or pro-MSC can tolerate the way he was kicked out of the team, and I for one do not believe for a second the whole "Michael was hesitant to sign, and we where forced to knock on Hamilton's door".

[kaller]

Also I can't understand all this "they lied to their drivers/fans" talk. Sure their claims and promises might be a bit forward and optimistic, but others do the same. Actually I appreceate that attitude more than the fake modesty some people/teams carry before them like a shield. Plus Haug is actually a decent guy, he really loves racing, enjoys what he is doing and is almost always a fair sportsman, which is something you can't say about a lot of other people involved in F1 - Jordan, Montezemolo, Horner anyone?

Are we talking about the same Haug here?
I am sick of Haugs lame excuses. He is a good politician but I don’t like to be treated like an idiot by him. Let’s just bring the latest version of Haugs excuses up here. DTM qualifying in Valencia, all Mercedes cars finished last 1 second behind BMW and Audi. Haug just mentions how bad Audi was in the last race and blames the track for the poor Mercedes performance.
Ooooh Ja Ja, it’s the track but the other cars are driving on exactly the same track Mr. Haug and they do it much quicker. It’s your car which is totally unsettled over bumps. He would do much better to say the truth instead of blaming everything else but never the car.

Maybe that's Mercedes' policy and Haug has to fulfill it? And even if he says these things voluntarily, how many time do you other teams principals say it's their crappy car's fault? You rarely hear that, and I'm totally fine with that. You better watch how he acts and treats other people, both his drivers and the opponents and then try to show me what I wrote about Haug is not true.

[FoxHound]

@foxhound, this is based on the asumption schumacher really did have a choice earlier in the season.

It's as good as I can without having anything factual to go by. I can understand the Schumacher fans dissapointment, I really can. But this is business, not a charity run organistation for Mr MSC's benefit.
Every time I heard Schumacher talk about the future it was about him deciding....that's quite a position given that he isnt performing as he was in his "first career"?

[FoxHound]

I certainly will, when I find the money needed for such a purchase. And this comes from a hardcore Mercedes fan. I think no one who is neutral or pro-MSC can tolerate the way he was kicked out of the team, and I for one do not believe for a second the whole "Michael was hesitant to sign, and we where forced to knock on Hamilton's door".

The people Mercedes have lost, they will gain through the Hamilton aquisition. Enjoy your Audi

[FoxHound]

@ Kaller

Couldnt agree more. Can you imagine Mario Theissen or Wolfgang Ullrich saying "Ja Ja dast motor ist Schiezer"....Why should Haug be held up as eronous when this is the industry standard?

[Nando]

I think no one who is neutral or pro-MSC can tolerate the way he was kicked out of the team

He wasn´t kicked out of the team. That´s a ridiculous statement.

His contract was from 2010-2011-2012. that´s it. a guy getting kicked out (or bought out) would be Kimi at Ferrari.

[mep]

It’s your car which is totally unsettled over bumps. He would do much better to say the truth instead of blaming everything else but never the car.

If it is unsettled by bumps at one track and not another how can it be anything other than track conditions? Sorry but the example you use is no good.

The track has more bumps than others but the other cars just hoover over them like nothing. Mercedes has the same problem on every other track. Whenever there is a bump the cars pitch starts to oscillate. Earlier on they said that does not affect performance, which is untrue as well because these oscillations mean variations in wheel load and therefore grip. They never looked into the problem and now pay for it on a bumpy track. It is the way Haug is looking at these things. Instead of admitting that there is a clear weakness in the car he blames the track for being bumpy.
It is the same when the F1 cars keeps braking down. Or have a gearbox failure after 12 laps in a GP. He comes up with excuses like oh the part that failed cost only 10 cent.
Who the --- cares how much a part costs?
It is bad engineering, thats what it is.
And I do think other teams handle that better. RedBull comes to me mind there. They do have technical failures but they honestly admit that they operated for example their KERS at the temperature limit because they compromised the design for that.
Maybe it’s because Haug is nothing more than a Journalist. Ah Journo will always struggle to lie to an engineer about technical issues.

[Nando]

What is hugely interesting about the front end of the Mercedes (and to some degree the Mclaren) is that their Mercedes DTM car shares exactly the same trait.