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The 2021 F1 Season.

I watched the Schumacher Netflix Documentary last night. It gave an insight into what Michael was like outside of F1. I had already read from other drivers that he was very good company and liked to party privately at home. What came across in the documentary was that he is incredibly shy and doesn't trust people easily. He hated the publicity, but loved driving and was fiercely protective of his family. He seems to have a strange relationship with Ralph, but that wasn't really focused on apart from Ralph's initial reaction at the press interview after they pointed out to Michael that he had equalled Senna 41 wins at the 2000 Italian GP and he breaks down into tears. He was under enormous pressure to deliver Ferrari a Drivers Championship after 4 seasons. Of course he then went on to deliver 5 on the trot! His work ethic was something else. The early starts, the late nights, the testing and drive to succeed.

I think allot of credit should be given to the Schumacher family for allowing and cooperating with the documentary. They didn't have to do it and they even provided interviews themselves which added to the experience. They don't need the money, so it wasn't about that.
 
There maybe some confusion of terms here.

The race engineers are a group of 2 or 3 engineers (called Race Engineer and Performance Engineer and or System Engineer) who go to all the races and tests with their nominated driver. With the same on the other side of the garage and then with a Chief Race Engineer, a Strategy Engineer and sometimes shared System Engineers.

The race driver works very closely with the travelling engineering team. Back at the factory the Race Engineer will then discuss issues that the driver wants fixing, e.g. new seat, steering wheel layout, different padding, revised seatbelts, different airflow for cooling etc.

The Race Engineer used to review handling problems (in any case documented during and after each session) with the Vehicle Performance Group, but nowadays all teams use simulators and so the Vehicle Performance Group will speak directly with the drivers.

Michael joined well before going testing and so had time to build the relationship with his Race Engineers before going testing and racing.

I hope that makes things clearer?

Yes, thanks. I was thinking of race engineers as in the bloke(s) assigned to a particular driver.
 
One of the more interesting parts is one I well remember, his rear-ending of Coulthard at Spa in the rain, and his storming down to the McLaren pit and having to be physically restrained. Ross Brawn thought that Coulthard had slowed down, but Coulthard couldn't have seen him through the wall of spray thrown up by the McLaren, and, as Coulthard said to him, "You ran into me, Michael, I didn't reverse into you!" Yet he seemed incapable of believing that he was at fault.

Schumacher thought Coulthard had tried to kill him in his actions that day. Afterwards, they convened to try and clear the air and Schumacher confirmed his belief that he was never wrong. Coulthard realised that Michael had at a different level of inner belief in himself, something that he would never have at that level. Despite rebuttals at the time, I understand that David Coulthard admitted to Michael many years later that he had lifted off the accelerator whilst being on the racing line, causing Michael to hit the back of him. Michael was right. Nowadays, the Stewards would look into this sort of incident fully with the sight of all the telemetry. David wouldn't have got away with it scot-free like I think he did as a "racing incident".
 
Schumacher thought Coulthard had tried to kill him in his actions that day. Afterwards, they convened to try and clear the air and Schumacher confirmed his belief that he was never wrong. Coulthard realised that Michael had at a different level of inner belief in himself, something that he would never have at that level. Despite rebuttals at the time, I understand that David Coulthard admitted to Michael many years later that he had lifted off the accelerator whilst being on the racing line, causing Michael to hit the back of him. Michael was right. Nowadays, the Stewards would look into this sort of incident fully with the sight of all the telemetry. David wouldn't have got away with it scot-free like I think he did as a "racing incident".
I didn't know that Coulthard had admitted any culpability, but you are apparently correct:

https://sportslumo.com/motorsport/m...rd-1998-belgian-grand-prix-spa-francorchamps/
 
Schumacher thought Coulthard had tried to kill him in his actions that day. Afterwards, they convened to try and clear the air and Schumacher confirmed his belief that he was never wrong. Coulthard realised that Michael had at a different level of inner belief in himself, something that he would never have at that level. Despite rebuttals at the time, I understand that David Coulthard admitted to Michael many years later that he had lifted off the accelerator whilst being on the racing line, causing Michael to hit the back of him. Michael was right. Nowadays, the Stewards would look into this sort of incident fully with the sight of all the telemetry. David wouldn't have got away with it scot-free like I think he did as a "racing incident".
The stewards had the power to request the telemetry or other information years before this incident t0 help them make better judgements.

I had left McLaren a few months before that so did not see the data, but it would have been an easy job to view it on a screen or print out a graph for the stewards to use.

So I am struggling to understand why this did not happen, or if it did, then the stewards must have been happy with the data.
 
@IanW yes, it is strange that it wasn't seemingly investigated or investigated properly or that eyes were turned blind. You would have thought Ferrari would have pushed for it given what was at stake at the time - a race win and the close championship points.

I admire David Coulthard for eventually having the balls to own up to that lifting error. Many others would take that sort of thing to their grave. I think Michael and David had a good relationship in general. David was invited to some of the Schumacher private parties etc. I think I'm also right to say that Michael suggested that they exchange helmets after Michaels final race for Ferrari. David said he was touched that he asked him and that it is one of his most prized possessions.
 
Schumacher thought Coulthard had tried to kill him in his actions that day. Afterwards, they convened to try and clear the air and Schumacher confirmed his belief that he was never wrong. Coulthard realised that Michael had at a different level of inner belief in himself, something that he would never have at that level. Despite rebuttals at the time, I understand that David Coulthard admitted to Michael many years later that he had lifted off the accelerator whilst being on the racing line, causing Michael to hit the back of him. Michael was right. Nowadays, the Stewards would look into this sort of incident fully with the sight of all the telemetry. David wouldn't have got away with it scot-free like I think he did as a "racing incident".

I said for years that was what he’d done so was glad when he finally admitted it. At the very least he should have been told by his team to get off the racing line. Michael was on another level that day and deserved the victory. Coulthard was an accident happening all weekend.
 
Be careful chaps, we aren't allowed to talk about the past on this thread remember, its irrelevant so I am told :)
 
Give yer head a wobble mate.

F1 in 1994 is completely irrelevant to F1 in 2021 because the rules, cars, engines, drivers, season, coverage, aero, gearboxes, tyres, pit garages, onboard cameras etc are all different. In a separate thread about historical incidents in F1 it’d be fine, but this thread looks forward more than backwards.

Was it Ron Dennis who said that those who spend the present in the past spend the future in the present?

A sprinkling of the past is fine, I’d say, but no more than that sprinkling…

Just referencing..I think the past is perfectly valid myself and am enjoying the dialogue.
 
I said for years that was what he’d done so was glad when he finally admitted it. At the very least he should have been told by his team to get off the racing line. Michael was on another level that day and deserved the victory. Coulthard was an accident happening all weekend.

To be fair to McLaren, they did warn Coulthard over the radio that the leader was coming up to lap him. I don't think Coulthard did anything deliberate or malicious. He just made a mistake by not getting off the racing line before backing-off to let Michael through.

Given Michael's reaction at being put out the race whilst leading with a 50 second lead, I can understand Coulthard keeping quiet about lifting off and picking his moment to own-up to Michael. Let the dust settle and probably own-up during one of those intoxicated Schumacher parties or such!

It's now a classic incident, but at the time and in the records, it cost Ferrari and Schumacher dearly in the Championships.
 
To be fair to McLaren, they did warn Coulthard over the radio that the leader was coming up to lap him. I don't think Coulthard did anything deliberate or malicious. He just made a mistake by not getting off the racing line before backing-off to let Michael through.
I agree with that completely. David was a very fair driver and would not do the things that we have seen and are seeing other drivers do to try and win.
 
Interesting piece by Peter Windsor on what makes in his opinion Max such a great (4/4) driver here:
Thanks for posting. He makes some interesting points which have given me some things to think about as I have my own views, built up from analysing a lot of drivers and using simulations to understand what they are doing.

He is absolutely correct that the drivers are changing how they drive a corner every time they get to it due to what state the tyres are in (and they are influenced by the driver, the track and the weather). If you watch just laptimes during the race you can see the majority of the drivers consistently go up or down in laptime as a group (fuel burns off so go faster, tyres degrade so go slower) due to changes in the conditions at some turns (slight gust of wind, oil on the track, gradual change in track temperature that at some point has a noticeable effect on tyre performance etc).

The key point that he missed is that the fastest way around the lap is achieved by maximising acceleration.

What this means is the fastest drivers use the tyres a bit differently. For example, Ayrton was not a late braker at all, he used the combined area of the tyre (combining lateral and longitudinal acceleration) more than other drivers. It is a bit more difficult to control out there, but the drivers who can use that zone instead of crossing it as quickly as possible, get more acceleration (tyres work more effectively out there) and hence lap faster. VER is doing this I suspect, in combination with what Windsor has described, which is what all drivers are doing to an extent, which is to try to put the car in a zone whereby the balance and feel is closer to what they want. But VER is probably better at doing this than other drivers.

As an aside, Lewis used to hit the brake pedal harder than any other driver that I have come across, which in itself reduces laptime as he decelerates faster in the time that other drivers have not got his peak deceleration. A simpler way of trying to maximise deceleration, but difficult to do and forces you to drive through the turn a bit differently.

I have heard quite a bit about Rob Wilson and would be interested to meet up with him to discuss drivers and how cars handle as I look at it more from the theoretical viewpoint and he must look at it from the more practical viewpoint.
 
I think I either read or heard that Lewis manages his tyres better than Bottas during the race by having his car more settled/square/planted on exit, so he maximises acceleration but gets more out of the tyres in each stint. The great drivers adapt better as you say so maybe he's no longer as late on the brakes and has adapted a similar style to Max to get the best out of the current tyres. PW thinks Max & Lewis are the only 4/4 drivers, Norris & Russell a 3/4 (currently). I wonder where he rates LeClerc?
 
I think I either read or heard that Lewis manages his tyres better than Bottas during the race by having his car more settled/square/planted on exit, so he maximises acceleration but gets more out of the tyres in each stint. The great drivers adapt better as you say so maybe he's no longer as late on the brakes and has adapted a similar style to Max to get the best out of the current tyres. PW thinks Max & Lewis are the only 4/4 drivers, Norris & Russell a 3/4 (currently). I wonder where he rates LeClerc?
The on board video shows me that Lewis is managing the car and the tyres better than BOT.

This is a function of the car capability, the car setup and the drivers' driving styles.

And is true for all drivers on the grid and the cars that they drive. And in part is a simple explanation as to why PER cannot get in to the RBR and be close to VER. That car has been optimised from a core design perspective and a range of adjustment perspective, over many years, to suit what VR wants. PER is having to learn to adapt his driving style to get the best out of a car that is not that well suited to him (yet at least). Coming back to Ayrton again, he seemed to be able to drive any car extremely quickly and as such adjusted his driving style as required so it is possible that other drivers could drive the RBR much closer to VER's pace.

I should have looked at how Charles was driving whilst he was at Sauber (but was very focused on trying to improve the processes so Sauber could move up the grid...), but as it was his first season, I expected him to learn quickly and adapt, which he did.
 
Coming back to Ayrton again, he seemed to be able to drive any car extremely quickly and as such adjusted his driving style as required so it is possible that other drivers could drive the RBR much closer to VER's pace.

Speaking of Senna, did he really pump the throttle through the corners, or is that some kind of myth?
 


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