Schumacher, Pirelli’s favorite for Valencia
This season, the prediction game has become particularly tricky. However, this doesn't stop Paul Hembery, director of Pirelli Motorsport, from taking a risk and revealing the name of the potential winner in the Valencia harbor.
Even though there have already been seven different winners since Melbourne, many drivers can still aim for the top step of the podium. Among them is Michael Schumacher, who hasn’t had much success at the start of this championship, as explained in last week’s Pitstop column.
However, since the beginning of the season, it seems that the seven-time world champion is in better shape than in 2011 and 2010, and without his numerous issues, he would be much higher in the championship standings. His best time during the Monaco qualifying is a good example. Therefore, he cannot be excluded from the list of potential winners by Interlagos.
For Valencia, Pirelli even makes him their favorite: « I think you have to watch out for someone like Schumacher for pole position. He probably would have won in Monaco if he hadn’t been penalized, so why not here? » predicts Paul Hembery.
Due to its configuration, the Valencia circuit does not particularly favor overtaking maneuvers, which makes a good position on the grid all the more valuable.
« We know that Valencia is not an ideal track for creating an exciting race. It is difficult to overtake and it resembles Monaco from this point of view. There will be high temperatures and we are going there with the softs and mediums so we should have less degradation [than in Canada], » explains Hembery before heading to Spain.
This heat could also suit the Lotus team well, as the E20 has often proven to be very fast in such conditions. Will we have a new winner and an exciting race as a bonus? Find out Sunday afternoon.
