Michael Schumacher Is Back?

iSport F1 Pitstop: Michael Schumacher out-qualifying team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Spanish GP qualifying has made the global headlines. iSport’s Motorsport Editor Kunal Shah tells us the changes ‘Schumi’ had to face to get there.

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Well the F1 paddock is buzzing! The TV commentators were at it – the sports websites are at it too. Michael Schumacher for the first time this season has comprehensively outpaced his much spoken about team – mate Nico Rosberg. Schumacher was quickest in all the practice sessions and also showed quicker pace in qualifying of the Spanish GP by qualifying 6th – 2 grid slots ahead of his team-mate.

Michael Schumacher’s comeback to Formula1 hasn’t been easy for him, but it for sure has been easy for all the arm-chair critics and former drivers to label him as a ‘has been’. To be honest, his on-track performance did lead them to believe that may be, just may be, Schumacher is past his prime. However, what they also even more easily do was to ignore the changes that he has had to cope up with!

Schumacher’s 41, almost twice the age of the guy who is touted to win this year’s World Championship (Sebastian Vettel). He was out of competitive racing for 3 full seasons, and a lot has changed since then – not just his car, team-mate but the entire team!! If you’ve followed F1 for a while, you will agree that let alone 3 years, the modern day F1 car changes enough in the 3 days of a GP weekend.

For those who don’t know yet, this year’s Merc GP car is built to Jenson Button’s liking. He was their star driver last season and of course his inputs have gone into designing this year’s car. Secondly, the front tyres are narrower than those used back in 2006. And it isn’t their size alone that has changed, but also their chemical composition. Bridgestone too innovate newer compounds every season and the tyre compounds that are being used currently are way too different. A narrower front tyre, means lesser grip at the front – with the testing regulations, it is the races that Schumacher gets to get accustomed to the newer designed cars and tyres.

The Merc GP team is a World Champion team – after all they won last year in their previous avatar, Brawn GP. But it’s a totally different team that Schumacher has to adapt to – after spending a record 10 seasons with the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, he’s still adjusting himself to a completely new team. And knowing what he did after drilling himself in Ferrari, I can only begin to assume of the possibilities once he’s leading the Mercedes’ F1 team forward.

After a decent start to his comeback season, Schumi hit an all time low in the Chinese GP. Post his debacle; the Merc GP bosses were out defending Schumacher’s talent and of course their choice to offer him a drive this season. Infact, they were not alone in doing so, former drivers and Schumacher’s rivals too were out in his favour – supporting his decision, talent and the challenges he faced. In an attempt to rekindle the Schumacher touch – Merc GP and Ross Brawn did something what most racing team bosses would do. They brought back Schumacher’s old testing chassis – a chassis which Schumacher was comfortable with and of course clocked better lap times. (better – closer to Rosberg’s times)

The said chassis was also a longer one, which meant that it had a longer wheel base. Now, for the average Joe, a longer wheel base would mean more length between the two tyres. While adding length, a longer wheel base would also permit the team and driver a better weight distribution ratio – something that holds key to prime pace this season since the drivers use a heavier fuel load.

The chassis while adding length to Schumacher’s car, has also in some ways helped Schumacher find some speed. Going by his start to the Spanish GP, I would say that the longer wheel base has surely helped Michael Schumacher. His pace has been unmatched by team-mate Nico Rosberg, yet. But will the race reveal a clearer picture? Let’s wait and watch!

(The writer is a former race driver and currently works with Sport18 - a div. of Network18. Kunal can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )