- 27 Oct 11, 18:54#281536
When Michael came back last year he was very rusty, overdrove a lot to compensate and made a lot of uncharacteristic errors. Given the close nature of the 2010 WDC I dont therefore think he would have won last year. The lack of Red Bull reliability last year would have hurt too.
This year Schuey has been back to his best and the car has been very reliable. Also very quick...although how much quicker than Ferrari and McLaren is hard to be precise. Given Webber's struggles with the new Pirellis it more than possible Schumacher could have won this year. Always assuming he didnt have his own problems with the black round things.
Actually (controversial view this possibly) IMO there has been a cloud over how fast Schumacher still is since about 2002 or 2003 and tyres (and a compliant team mate) are the reason. From about that time until his 1st retirement the tyre war between Bridgestone and Michelin meant that Schumacher's Ferrari (the only Bridgestone front runner) was either miles ahead or significantly compromised such is the importance of tyre grip in determining overall speed. Michael was often left not needing to be super quick to win, or left in position where to be so as a driver would not have overcome the tyres speed disadvantage.
This year Schuey has been back to his best and the car has been very reliable. Also very quick...although how much quicker than Ferrari and McLaren is hard to be precise. Given Webber's struggles with the new Pirellis it more than possible Schumacher could have won this year. Always assuming he didnt have his own problems with the black round things.
Actually (controversial view this possibly) IMO there has been a cloud over how fast Schumacher still is since about 2002 or 2003 and tyres (and a compliant team mate) are the reason. From about that time until his 1st retirement the tyre war between Bridgestone and Michelin meant that Schumacher's Ferrari (the only Bridgestone front runner) was either miles ahead or significantly compromised such is the importance of tyre grip in determining overall speed. Michael was often left not needing to be super quick to win, or left in position where to be so as a driver would not have overcome the tyres speed disadvantage.