At age 42, and after an inglorious return to Formula One last year, few would have guessed that Michael Schumacher and Mercedes would be touted as a potential championship team for the upcoming season.
Schumacher, who came out of retirement after three years to join Mercedes last season, ended ninth in the 2010 standings, without a single podium finish.
But ahead of Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and after an impressive winter of testing, Schumacher may soon get a taste of the glory that drew him back to the sport.
Schumacher struggled to adapt to the durable Bridgestone tires on his return to racing and said on Thursday he had high hopes of performing better with the more degradable Pirelli rubber introduced this year.
“What’s most important is what I want to prove to myself,” he said. “Whether it was only the tire. Whether it was me after three years out, not knowing all the switches and positions, and what I had to do to make the whole package work together, I don’t know.
“I just know that now I do feel it and I’m back on it.”
Red Bull’s Mark Webber was quick to identify Mercedes as a race-winning team this season. “Mercedes have had a good finish to the winter testing and they’re going to be winning some races for sure this year,” Webber said.
“The car’s improved, to our predictions,” Schumacher said on Thursday. “We knew we weren’t on the pace for the first tests, but we were focusing on a particular package … it was only in the last tests that we were able to see that everything works out.”
Tires aren’t the only changes to F1 that Schumacher has had to adapt to since making his debut with the Jordan team back in 1991. “In the time that I’ve been racing I’ve gone through many different development phases,” he said.
“From the very standard days of manual gear shifting when I started, there has been the days of active suspension, traction control, ABS and so on.
“And there have been all the electronics you can adjust on the steering wheel. … Now we have this year [adjustable] rear wings and KERS.
“I can only say that anything that makes me go quicker, and I can adapt and adjust in the car, that’s what I like.”
Now Schumacher is looking forward to ending the speculation and seeing exactly what the new car and new tires can do in Sunday’s race.
“We get on with it this weekend and see what is the reality,” he said. “Testing is one thing and racing is another thing.” AP
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com