Michael Schumacher may have turned the luck of every team he has ever driven, but something was missing during the last stage of his driving career with the now dominant, but then still young Mercedes squad: a victory.
It is a void that Mercedes regrets to this day, according to its chief strategist James Vowles. During an appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Vowles felt that the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix weekend, when Schumacher qualified on pole, was the best attempt to win a race with the seven-time champion. Nico Rosberg had already clinched the team’s first victory three races earlier at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher was 43 years old when he reached his final F1 pole position at the 2012 Monaco GP.
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However, a penalty of five starting places at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend essentially prevented any chance of victory on the tendon route, which is notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities.
“I was over the moon and I think it was one of the best laps he has probably ever done in his life,” Vowles told Beyond the Grid. “But I was heartbroken, really heartbroken for him that this is the guy we all wanted to win a race because he openly deserved it and he put so much effort into the team and so much of his life Put into the team that it was a repayment for him and that was his chance during the year. “
Michael Schumacher paved the way for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes
One of Schumacher’s greatest strengths was lifting teams that had fallen by the wayside and getting them back into ship shape. After Schumacher had achieved two world titles with Benetton between 1994 and 1995, he signed up for a Ferrari with poor performance in 1996 and thus won five titles.
While Mercedes may have dominated for much of the past decade, when Hamilton dwarfed Schumacher’s win and championship numbers, it might not have been entirely possible if the German hadn’t helped lay the foundation for the team when he went to them kicked off their return to the sport in 2010.
Mercedes Sports Director Ron Meadows, who was also on the podcast, said, “Given how he’s helped us improve, it was my greatest regret that Michael didn’t win a race for us because he was someone else Driver was when we were. I had already worked with it at this point. “” I really think we all wanted him to win. It didn’t happen, ”added Vowles as he supported Meadows. “A few years later we couldn’t stop winning and he deserved some of it because the reason we win today was thanks a lot to him because he made us better.”
The 2012 Monaco Grand Prix was ultimately won by Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber, who inherited pole position after Schumacher’s starting penalty. Rosberg started and finished second for Mercedes, while Schumacher had to retire after 63 of the 78 lap distance with a fuel pressure problem.
Published 09 Apr 2021, 21:02 CET
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