Is Schumacher feeling the strain already?
Feb.17 (YF1) There is an old saying: Pictures never lie? Well these days with image retouching software the old saying has long been binned.
However these images of Michael Schumacher in earnest conversation with Mercedes GP engineer Andy Shovlin on the first day of the second Jerez Formula 1 pre-season tests. Of course, by no means is this montage retouched – in fact they are really a case of what you see is what you got.
As usual the always alert Sutton photographer has caught an intriguing sequence of moments that show a clearly frustrated Schumi perhaps wondering for the first time why he is doing all this again.
Okay it was a miserable day at Jerez. It rained, it stopped, it drizzled, it stopped, it rained again and so on. Did Schumi get up on the wrong side of bed?
Afterall he is driving Ross Brawn’s brainchild and spearheading the Silver Arrows renaissance. The MGP W01 is a piece of kit Schumi better enjoy driving as that is what he will lining up on the Bahrain Grand Prix grid with in less than a month to go.
The 41 year old, multiple F1 World Champion, on duty for the first day of the second session of F1 pre-season testing in Southern Spain for his team. Schumi pounded around Jerez for 111 laps, more than any notched up by his younger rivals. That means a great deal of seat time and energy usage.
One of the big question marks surrounding the Schumacher’s comeback is his ability to adapt to the fitness regime of modern Formula 1. Granted not much has changed in terms of effort to drive a F1 car, except the fact that the German is now four years older.
Do these pictures reveal not only frustration with the MGP W01 but also a certain fatigue? Kind of: been there done that, why am I here talking this technical mumbo jumbo now when I could be chilling at home with the family…
Maybe we reading too much into it….
Only time will tell if Schumi will go the distance even if Mercedes is a mediocre car and incapable of challenging for wins. If not, then Nick Heidfeld could be back in an F1 seat sooner than he imagined.
haha Mr Anderson, if the article said how godlike he is, and you can se how motivated he is and how detailed is his breafing, you would applaud that “sensationalist garbage” totally agreing on every piece of crap it would say, without even tinkng of writting you can possibly tell what he is saying. In that context maybe he is describing how he bought a refrigerator, but you wouldn’t complain, you’d just run allong and spread the word of the great Messiah Schumacher and his miracle work he is doing cought on photos.
Offensive and presumptious piece omitted.
Points taken…
Maybe just the novelty of seeing Schumi knackered was newsworthy – seldom if ever saw him in that state in his “previous” career…
Last time I drove an F1 car on my Playstation I must admit I was pretty knackered too. My thumbs took a pounding around Monaco
Maybe we reading too much into it….
i think that sums it all up.
i would like to see how you (the guy that wrote this piece) would look like when you get out of an F1 car – drenched-and possibly knackered…my camera is locked and loaded
Worst article I read this year. As Mr Anderson said: “sensationalist garbage”
this is the most sensationalist garbage i have ever come across. so what he looks upset coming out of the car. for all we know his enginerr could have told him his wife or kids were sick, yet youve gone and assumed that he’s had it. also, “giving the engineer a hard time”? what the! if you dont know what he is saying, you cant report that without making it up entirely. yes, he looks a little unhappy, but that could mean anything. i doubt he is already looking to retire again.
Please, in the future, report on things which are actually facts, not wild speculation based on no understanding on what is happening whatsoever.