Defending Michael Schumacher - Canadian GP 2010

Perceptions of Michael Schumacher

It's safe to say that Michael Schumacher has not lived up to expectations so far in 2010. The seven times World Champion is yet to finish on the podium, let alone win a race, and has been outperformed for much of the season by Nico Rosberg. In the Canadian Grand Prix, he qualified poorly and finished out of the points which has only increased the pressure on him to reclaim his old form. During the race he clashed with Kubica, Massa and Liuzzi, and dropped from 8th to 11th in the dying stages.

However, Schumacher's performance in Montreal was not as bad as some people have suggested. He was particularly disappointing in qualifying but his efforts during the race are actually a cause for some encouragement.

ON THE WRONG STRATEGY

Schumacher's afternoon was ruined by a conflict with Robert Kubica on lap 13. Michael picked up a slow puncture from the incident and was forced to pit which put him out of sync with the rest of the field. The result was that Schumacher ended up spending a massive 37 laps on one set of the soft tyres. They lasted just six laps on Jenson Button's car at the start (and he’s a smooth driver) so it’s no wonder that Michael struggled so much towards the end of the race.

Up until that point Schumacher had been recovering well from his lacklustre qualifying session.

THE FIRST 13 LAPS

Michael passed both Williams drivers on the run towards the first corner and got ahead of Rosberg at turn two thanks to the Massa-Liuzzi melee. Schumacher ran a longer first stint than his closest rivals and was up to third by the time he pitted. A quick in-lap, plus some handy work from the Mercedes mechanics, brought him out ahead of Robert Kubica. Schumacher could well have finished in fourth or fifth place if not for the incident that followed.

INCIDENT WITH KUBICA

Schumacher's clash with the Renault was a simple racing incident for which neither driver is to blame. Michael squeezed Kubica onto the grass heading towards turn three in an aggressive but fair manoeuvre. It was enough to keep Robert behind but the two were still close as they approached the braking zone.  Kubica had a lunge down the inside but lost grip on the painted kerbing and slid wide towards the grass. Michael saw him coming and also took the grass to avoid a collision but both cars ended up with damage from their off track excursion.

Schumacher was uncompromising in the incident but was also fair which is an indication that his racecraft is as strong as it used to be.

Later in the Grand Prix, Schumacher did very well to defend against Buemi, Massa, and Liuzzi who each attacked him in faster cars. Once again he was particularly aggressive, and although the stewards investigated his clash with Massa after the race, they concluded he had done nothing wrong.

INCIDENT WITH MASSA

On lap 64 down the back straight Michael moved to defend the inside from Massa, and then moved back to assume the racing line into the chicane. Schumacher adhered to the rules which allow drivers to defend once before moving back towards the racing line, and on both occasions Michael drifted across the track rather gently and did not swerve. Massa simply ran into the back of him. Ferrari's gripe after the race was that Michael had braked early and not that he moved to the left. Schumacher’s cautious approach to the corner was inevitable given the state of his tyres, and since Michael was entitled to choose his braking point, the collision was Massa's fault. The Brazilian simply misjudged Schumacher’s speed.

Again, Michael placed his car well and should be encouraged by his strong racecraft.

INCIDENT WITH LIUZZI

Schumacher also came together with Liuzzi towards the end of the race after a tough five-lap fight to stay ahead of the Force India. The two drivers banged wheels when Vitantonio pushed ahead of Michael on the last lap but their battle should have been decided a few laps earlier. Schumacher cut the chicane to hold his position on lap 68 at which point he should have given up the place to Liuzzi. With the exception of that mistake Michael had done very well to block the relentless attacks from behind.

In hindsight, Michael should have never become involved with Liuzzi because he lost so much time in their scrap that Sutil was able to catch him and get ahead on the very last lap.

Schumacher's qualifying was sub-standard, and he could have done a few things differently in the race, but his speed was not as bad as some have suggested and his racecraft was hard but fair. Michael is disappointed with the result but should be encouraged that he would have fared much better on the right tyres.

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Posted by Martin Porter. - Follow him on twitter @mpondaweb.

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