Schumacher takes risks to overtake

During the last British Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher received a ten-second Stop & Go penalty after his collision with Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber. This incident, which also forced the seven-time world champion to pit for a nose change, ultimately dashed hopes for a potentially good result, as the German had made a much better start than his teammate, starting from 13th place on the grid. The Mercedes driver then had to rely on his talent to secure a disappointing ninth place, compared to what his result could have been without the collision.

However, it might have gone unnoticed if the German hadn’t become accustomed to this behavior recently, like in Valencia, where he had already lost his mustache and was forced to return to the pits to change it after colliding with Vitaly Petrov’s R31 at the pit lane exit. The same scenario happened between the two men in Turkey, when the Russian moved to the inside of the German driver who closed his path, leaving his front wing in the Russian driver’s right rear tire.

« Each incident this season happened for a different reason » claims the German in Auto Motor und Sport. « I am no different than before and certainly not lacking concentration, as proven by my overtakes at the start and in the first lap. Unfortunately, some unexpected situations occurred in certain races. Believe me, I found them unnecessary and would have gladly avoided them. I was just trying to fight as much as possible to be in front, and for that, I have to take some risks, » defends the Mercedes driver.

Certainly, he is not helped by his car, but what can be said about his performances in qualifying? It must be noted that, since the beginning of the season, the German has qualified in the top ten only five times. Since his return, the “Kaiser” has failed to reach Q3 ten times—almost one in every three Grand Prix—whereas his teammate, Nico Rosberg, has only failed three times, the last being in Brazil last season.

The German should therefore take more risks in qualifying to avoid having to take them during the race and thus, too often, ending up in situations where his aggressiveness doesn’t pay off.