Brawn: “We let Schumacher down”
While Michael Schumacher has only two points in the driver standings on the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix, Ross Brawn, director of the Mercedes AMG team, absolves the seven-time world champion by stating that his team has not always done the work it should have to allow the German to hope for better results.
If Nico Rosberg is currently in seventh place in the world hierarchy with 41 points and one victory to his name, Michael Schumacher is still far from the mark with only two small units, earned thanks to two tenth places in Bahrain and Sepang.
After five races, the German had 22 points in 2010 (compared to 50 for Nico Rosberg) and 14 points in 2011 (compared to 26 for Nico Rosberg), making his current points tally the worst since his return to competition.
Michael Schumacher had started his season well, achieving, one after the other, his best qualifying results: 4th in Australia, 3rd in Malaysia, and a front row (following Lewis Hamilton’s demotion) in China. But the German confirms the saying that points are only earned in the race where he suffered three retirements: a gearbox issue in Australia, an improperly fixed wheel nut in China, and more recently, a collision in Spain. In Malaysia, despite his good qualifying, his race quickly turned into an ordeal after a collision with Romain Grosjean’s Lotus, while in Bahrain, bad luck struck him during qualifying—a faulty DRS issue held him in the pits during the first part of the session.
Ross Brawn, director of the Mercedes AMG team, acknowledges the team’s share of responsibility in the misfortune faced by the seven-time German world champion since the start of the season: “A lot has been said and written, but we must not forget that we, the team, let him down on three occasions in five races, that we did not do the job we should have done,” explained the Briton in the Bild. “We must do better. We saw Michael’s real qualities again in the first race, so that’s why I believe we will see him on the podium this year.”
However, Brawn discusses the future of the German driver and, echoing the statements of most of the team’s key figures, assures that no decision has been made yet: « When the time comes, we will sit down together and discuss the future. I think the direction we’re heading in will become apparent very quickly. »
The director of the Mercedes AMG team also took the opportunity to reassure about his health after calling in sick during the Spanish Grand Prix: « On the Tuesday before Barcelona, I wasn’t feeling well, so I went to see the doctor and stayed one night in the hospital for some tests. When I returned home, I decided, on my doctors’ advice, to give myself a weekend of rest to be in good shape for Monaco. »
