{"id":43351,"date":"2014-07-07T19:53:13","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T18:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/issue_content\/schuey-left-in-the-shade-by-rosberg\/"},"modified":"2020-11-24T10:43:07","modified_gmt":"2020-11-24T10:43:07","slug":"schuey-left-in-the-shade-by-rosberg","status":"publish","type":"issue_content","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/archive\/article\/june-2010\/12\/schuey-left-in-the-shade-by-rosberg\/","title":{"rendered":"Schuey left in the shade by Rosberg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Schumacher\u2019s Formula 1 comeback has thus far failed to meet the expectations of the public, the Mercedes team or the former World Champion himself, who has struggled to match the performance of team-mate Nico Rosberg.<\/p>\n

Before the season Schumacher said he should be judged on the first four Grands Prix rather than just Bahrain, but if anything he struggled more in China than he did in the opening race.<\/p>\n

Schumacher has also been stymied by some sheer bad luck. Having finished a low-key sixth in Bahrain, he was an innocent victim of the Button\/Alonso tangle in the first corner at Melbourne, which led to a stop for a new nose. After dropping to the back he could salvage only 10th in a race that began in the sort of wet conditions in which he has so often excelled in the past.<\/p>\n

In Malaysia he was forced to pull off the track early when a rear wheel worked loose, then in the soaking Chinese GP \u2013 which again should have been tailor-made for him \u2013 he also struggled home 10th. However, he made life as difficult as possible for the likes of Lewis Hamilton<\/a> when they tried to pass, showing just how determined he is to still get the job done.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that Schumacher has been out-raced and out-qualified by team-mate Rosberg, who took two fifths and two thirds in the opening four races.<\/p>\n

Of course, history shows a similar pattern in qualifying, with the younger man often having the edge. Just as Alain Prost outpaced Niki Lauda, so Ayrton Senna more often than not later outran the Frenchman. <\/p>\n

The difference is in those days there was a much bigger spread down the field, and team-mates would still very often share the front row. This year there is a tighter pack at the front with some exceptional drivers in the mix. <\/p>\n

The Mercedes is clearly the fourth-best car at the moment and, with Robert Kubica also in the frame, Schumacher\u2019s performances have not been flattered. There is a back story, however. In wet qualifying in Malaysia Michael said his tyres went off, and in China he opted for a different rear wing.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, he has clearly struggled more than his team-mate to get to grips with a car that is not as good as last year\u2019s Brawn.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite honestly, our set-ups are pretty much identical,\u201d said Schumacher in China. \u201cThere\u2019s not much of a difference between us. That\u2019s why we\u2019re looking at things, at why I\u2019m struggling and what I\u2019m struggling with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross Brawn, meanwhile, has been delighted with Rosberg\u2019s progress, which has perhaps been underestimated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said before we went into this year that I felt it was a great combination, because Nico would learn a lot next to Michael,\u201d said Brawn. \u201cI think he\u2019d acknowledge that, because Nico\u2019s not had a partner of the calibre of Michael before, and I think he\u2019s finding it both a great challenge and a great help. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted with Nico, he\u2019s incredibly quick. It\u2019s perfect for Michael to have such a strong challenge to match up [to]. Michael\u2019s got to meet these targets. I think he\u2019s relishing the challenge. He gets disappointed of course, but you can see the steeliness in his ambition, and it\u2019s great that we\u2019ve got two good drivers.\u201d <\/p>\n

Adam Cooper<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":745,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"tags":[34091,34090,167,39316,22396,115462,179,34092,34619,35729,34618,36061,34640],"issue_decade":[121600],"issue_year":[121601],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/43351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issue_content"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/745"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43351"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/43351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":711313,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/43351\/revisions\/711313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43351"},{"taxonomy":"issue_decade","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_decade?post=43351"},{"taxonomy":"issue_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_year?post=43351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}