Future of Schumacher

[mep]

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.

Yes true, it is caused by the relationship between front and rear spring stiffness which makes a car respond to a bump with either a heave or a pitch movement. Heave would be the desired mode there.

[kaller]

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.

Funny thing is that the Merc DTM cars are also quite bumpy. I assumed the people builing the cars are totally distinct, though it seems more than just a strange coincidence to me.

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.

I agree that the argument is ridiculous, a DNF is a DNF no matter if the engine blew up or a screw was missing. However it does make some kind of difference when you think about it: The screw can be fixed more likely more easily than a faulty designed engine.
Also when Vettel had to stop his car, RB officals were keen to emphazise that it was not a RB or Renault problem, but the alternator's manufacturer's fault. which is just the same bullocks argument: It is bad engineering, you bought it and built it in your car, therefore it's also your problem and responsibility.

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.

Serious question: Did RB come out with that fact themselves? As far as I know the story, Danner said that an engineer of the alternator told this to him and some other people but wants to remain anonymous. That does not sound like RB admitted that voluntarily.
And if it's true that the engineer reveaveled the real reasons for the failure first, the whole RB alternator manufacturer fingerpointing alone is worse and more pathetic than all Haug excuses combined. Trying to blame somebody publicly just because you do not use their product appropriate...

[marcush.]

I really think Schumacher had the state of mind- MGP just needs to wait for his decision-as they had promised to give him all the time he needs - in the end time ran out and MGP again failed to stick to its promisesand announcements.

I also don´t think Schumacher wants to drive for them knowing they´d prefer Hamilton.On top of this He would never believe Hamilton would actually come to MGP knowing what Schumacher knows already...

So in the end i think Schumi is going to give the answer already next weekend on track .let´s see how close rosberg might be as long as Schumachers w03 will move forward ....
I´d love to see Michael developping Saubers car.He could be a huge asset to them to lure sponsorship and promote talent.
Pretty obvious he´d have a fair bit more points scored driving for sauber in 2012 ! The question is will sauber keep that mojo and deliver again next year? so in effect he could decide later when he feels the car has the potential to compete at the level of this years machine-wich would have been certainly enough for Schumacher to win a race.

[zyphro]

"Schumacher also recently admitted to friends within Sauber that he was still interested in speaking "with any team that will have me"."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 90422.html

[mep]

Funny thing is that the Merc DTM cars are also quite bumpy. I assumed the people builing the cars are totally distinct, though it seems more than just a strange coincidence to me.

I think we can agree that the cars have a clear weakness.
It actually can’t be more obvious than visually seeing how the car jumps around, the driver gets shaken, the cars floor scratches along the ground, and all Mercedes start from the back of the field!!
Haug standing in front of the camera and talking about the track is….well that I can’t even find words for that. Btw. were is expensive in such moments?

Serious question: Did RB come out with that fact themselves? As far as I know the story, Danner said that an engineer of the alternator told this to him and some other people but wants to remain anonymous. That does not sound like RB admitted that voluntarily.
And if it's true that the engineer reveaveled the real reasons for the failure first, the whole RB alternator manufacturer fingerpointing alone is worse and more pathetic than all Haug excuses combined. Trying to blame somebody publicly just because you do not use their product appropriate...

As far as I know goes the story like this:
The fact that the problems are caused by the alternator was admitted by Redbull and Renault. Where Redbull and Renault just said it was an alternator failure and maybe also hinted that they just by them somewhere else. Then Danner came up with the story that some guy working at Magnetic Marrelli told him that the teams misuse the alternator by running them under conditions they were never designed for.

Amusing is that Danner also emphasised that he can’t tell the name of the guy because that would mean consequences for him but it is a good Italian friend of him who works for Magnetic Marrelli. I mean after such a description it is not necessary to mention the name anymore.

I am not just talking about the time with Mercedes GP I am also talking about the several years with McLaren. I remember too many technical DNF’s where we never heard of any reason. As a fan and engineer I want to hear why the vehicle failed and why that is not going to happening again. Unfortunatelly did we never hear anything from Mercedes and their cars/engines keep failing for I don’t know 15 years now.
Let’s not forget stories like the Mp4-18!!
Or when Kimi fought to become WC 2005 and had to start each race from P11 because the --- engine broke down several times a weekend!!
Never just a hint what is the cause for it but the same failures kept coming and coming. Mercedes GP is actually unique in underperforming. They always find a new thing which can fail or go wrong and on the same time repeat their old mistakes.

How about this story:
In the qualy to the Canada GP they sent out Schumacher too late to make it over the line.
What a dump mistake.
Oooh but this can be topped. They did the same to Rosberg in SPA(I think it was that race).
I mean, HOW can this happen, but they make that twice!!!!!
Then in Hockenheim they sent Schumacher out on hard tires to save soft tires when the sky is full of rain clouds!!
I admit, Haug is a poor guy because the only explanation for something like this is stupidity in its purest form.
The man who suffers under all this is Schumacher, a 7 time wold champion, who never raised a word.
Respect.

[Vasconia]

"Schumacher also recently admitted to friends within Sauber that he was still interested in speaking "with any team that will have me"."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 90422.html

I hope this is true, I want to see him driving nex season.

Other thing I would like to see is a book or a deep interview about his years in Mercedes, there are a lot of thing that we dont know.

[snoop1050]

"Schumacher also recently admitted to friends within Sauber that he was still interested in speaking "with any team that will have me"."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 90422.html

I hope this is true, I want to see him driving nex season.

Other thing I would like to see is a book or a deep interview about his years in Mercedes, there are a lot of thing that we dont know.

one of the authors for a facebook mercedes fanpage claims Sabine Kehm was spotted on her way to maranello acording to italian tv.

i suspect its just a case of fanboyitusaand wishful thinking though

[clipsy1H]

"Schumacher also recently admitted to friends within Sauber that he was still interested in speaking "with any team that will have me"."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 90422.html

I hope this is true, I want to see him driving nex season.

Other thing I would like to see is a book or a deep interview about his years in Mercedes, there are a lot of thing that we dont know.

one of the authors for a facebook mercedes fanpage claims Sabine Kehm was spotted on her way to maranello acording to italian tv.

i suspect its just a case of fanboyitusaand wishful thinking though

can you post your source? i'm sure that's a pure speculation.

[Adamski]

"Schumacher also recently admitted to friends within Sauber that he was still interested in speaking "with any team that will have me"."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 90422.html

I hope this is true, I want to see him driving nex season.

Other thing I would like to see is a book or a deep interview about his years in Mercedes, there are a lot of thing that we dont know.

one of the authors for a facebook mercedes fanpage claims Sabine Kehm was spotted on her way to maranello acording to italian tv.

i suspect its just a case of fanboyitusaand wishful thinking though

I am very happy to see these posts here. Although I do not make too much attention to those news as there are nothing confirmed officially, but at least it's make these painful days a bit better.

As how this story developed, for me there is something smells but very much. The news said that Michael hesitate about his new contract. Why? I think it's a very interesting question that should be deeply mentioned.
There is probably something in the background that makes Michael unsure about his future in this team or even in Formula-1.
But I'm very sure that Schuy do not lie when he said several times during this season that he still like what he is doing and he is still hunger for successes. When we hear him cry in the radio after the pole in Monaco and after the podium in Valencia, well that shows how much he would liked to be successful with Merc. It's definitely very said what happened (there ).

[Ganxxta]

As how this story developed, for me there is something smells but very much. The news said that Michael hesitate about his new contract. Why? I think it's a very interesting question that should be deeply mentioned.
There is probably something in the background that makes Michael unsure about his future in this team or even in Formula-1.

I think he just wanted to see IF Mercedes is capable to deliver a competitive car, thats why he also was at the YDT, but the Singapore race and probably the developments for next year didn't look very promising to him...

[kaller]

Funny thing is that the Merc DTM cars are also quite bumpy. I assumed the people builing the cars are totally distinct, though it seems more than just a strange coincidence to me.

I think we can agree that the cars have a clear weakness.
It actually can’t be more obvious than visually seeing how the car jumps around, the driver gets shaken, the cars floor scratches along the ground, and all Mercedes start from the back of the field!!
Haug standing in front of the camera and talking about the track is….well that I can’t even find words for that. Btw. were is expensive in such moments?

Serious question: Did RB come out with that fact themselves? As far as I know the story, Danner said that an engineer of the alternator told this to him and some other people but wants to remain anonymous. That does not sound like RB admitted that voluntarily.
And if it's true that the engineer reveaveled the real reasons for the failure first, the whole RB alternator manufacturer fingerpointing alone is worse and more pathetic than all Haug excuses combined. Trying to blame somebody publicly just because you do not use their product appropriate...

As far as I know goes the story like this:
The fact that the problems are caused by the alternator was admitted by Redbull and Renault. Where Redbull and Renault just said it was an alternator failure and maybe also hinted that they just by them somewhere else. Then Danner came up with the story that some guy working at Magnetic Marrelli told him that the teams misuse the alternator by running them under conditions they were never designed for.

Amusing is that Danner also emphasised that he can’t tell the name of the guy because that would mean consequences for him but it is a good Italian friend of him who works for Magnetic Marrelli. I mean after such a description it is not necessary to mention the name anymore.

I am not just talking about the time with Mercedes GP I am also talking about the several years with McLaren.

Yeah I also thought that when Danner described that guy, I wonder if he is in trouble now. But the way RBR handled this case, it is possible that the manufacturer decisively let this information "leak" as they felt mistreated, and rightly so if this all true. Still, I prefer when a team does not say anything about the root cause of a failure instead of spreading half truths like RBR seems to do while blaming another company in such an unfair way. It would have been better for all involved parties if they just did a Haug and kept their mouthes shut.

But yeah, I have also been angered by the way Haug acts after a major failure, especially during the McLaren times. But I guess that's just the way he likes to handles these things, and if we like it or not is just a matter of personal preference. It neither harms the sport, nor the drivers or the team. At least when they try to deal with the errors internally, which I assume they do. Of course you might argue that sometimes the same mistakes happens twice, but that is also true for many other teams like McLaren or Ferrari. So after all we might be irritated by this behaviour, but I still hold to my claim that Haug has real passion in racing and is fair sportsman. Actually I find RBB's behaviour much more irritating, running an alternator over its limit and then being surprised when it breaks down and publicly putting the blame on the manufacturer. That is behaviour the sport does not need at all, and it is not down to personal preference if we think this is a good attitude. At least that's my point of view.

[filipL]

Hello to all of you!

I wolud like to say, that Mercedes reminds me on Toyota- corporate team, with lots of money, but poor organization, and people quality. Yes, they have on board Brawn, Willis, Costa and Bell, but we don't know who is behind scene.. Also, if we look past 2 years, and also last season when Merc stoped developing 2011 car, and put everything on 2012 car, and they again didn't have good enough result..I think, this is the main reason why michael was waiting with decision, and I am sure deep inside that he was counting on Ferrari or Sauber. Because, if you agree, Sauber is better car then kmercedes this year, and yes, I believe Schumi would even win one race in Sauber, and have 5 podiums, I'm sure, because firs he he is still (and thi is opinion of insiders and team boses) with alonso the most complete driver on grid. Yes, on raw speed Hamilton and Vettel are maybe quicker then thme, but they are most complete, and for sure, Sauber would suit his style, because he could drive more agressive and also on the limit.

Also, this is sad that Zetsche and Lauda agreed also about Lewis, that he is good for mercedes.. I think, Michael and alonso are better for developing car then any driver on the grid, and maybe Button is in the sam range, because everything he went through with Benetonn and BAR. And I will say- Hamilton will struggle just like michael did, and hope Michael will return to Sauber, because Sauber could be even stronger than this year, because there are not quite significant rules changes for next year, except DDRS ban and stepped nose ban.

I am from Croatia by the way- you know Modric,Ivanisevic, suker Hope my english is OK.

[marcush.]

In truth it is all zo protect the status quo .They´d sell or kill their mother to keep going on..so guys like haug just do what has worked in the past.He knows the insand outs in Daimler quite well ..survived the flying silver arrows in lemans(just hink about it how close they came to duplicating the first lemans disaster -effectively leading to a withdrawal from the sport) and you know they are not clever in a sense of calculated risk.
Hamilton filled the bill as did LAuda and only tomorrow they will think about the impact of their decision of today which surely helped to get a new lifeline for the team.
Do they live on borrowed time-as Schumacher thinks-otherwise he would have signed a contract. or are they now in a position to turn things around? There is no sign of any significant changes -their rate of new parts reaching the car is devastating considering they work maximum hours in the windtunnel and exploit cfd as much as is allowed.One has to ask what they are testing there when nothing appears to work good enough to be worth to be even tried on fridays..Come on
300days of tunnel testing 8 hours each day -thats 2400hrs of testing .....I´d think it should be possible to come up with a few more bits than sauber ,no?

[filipL]

In truth it is all zo protect the status quo .They´d sell or kill their mother to keep going on..so guys like haug just do what has worked in the past.He knows the insand outs in Daimler quite well ..survived the flying silver arrows in lemans(just hink about it how close they came to duplicating the first lemans disaster -effectively leading to a withdrawal from the sport) and you know they are not clever in a sense of calculated risk.
Hamilton filled the bill as did LAuda and only tomorrow they will think about the impact of their decision of today which surely helped to get a new lifeline for the team.
Do they live on borrowed time-as Schumacher thinks-otherwise he would have signed a contract. or are they now in a position to turn things around? There is no sign of any significant changes -their rate of new parts reaching the car is devastating considering they work maximum hours in the windtunnel and exploit cfd as much as is allowed.One has to ask what they are testing there when nothing appears to work good enough to be worth to be even tried on fridays..Come on
300days of tunnel testing 8 hours each day -thats 2400hrs of testing .....I´d think it should be possible to come up with a few more bits than sauber ,no?

Yes, thats also true mate.. What they are doing all the season- nothing.. Tehy didnt come with any big and real updates till september.. And just look at McLaren,Ferrari,RB, and even Sauber and Williams.. I said and believe, something is wron with organization and aero department in Mercedes.. Have in mind that they kicked out Loic Bigois, and put Willis in aero, and everybody who know F1 in detail, knows that willis is not so great in aerodynamic, and also, as I said in Merc are big fights going on between people, and I really don't know if this team will have a bright future. As I said, they reminds me on Toyota.

[N12ck]

I for one hope that Schumacher has one last hurrah in the team he belongs at which is Ferrari and be in a position to fight for victories for one last year in 2013,

this could be a possibility for Ferrari to reinstate their most successful driver and to fill the gap before possibly Vettel arrives in 2014