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Well think about it: Because there have so much time left to concentrate on next season so they can use everything that is remaining more or less as testing while other teams have no chance to test so much because they have to concentrate on this season, for me it makes sencse;-)

Yes that makes perfect sense, Ferrari's 2010 performance is absolute proof of your theory.

@LF - very well said

And in the 2nd half of 2009, Brawn GP had no option but to defend points and probably had not much resource to put on 2010, that was way before Mercedes came on board, and the whole Brawn + Mercedes + Schumacher deal was made to quickly to really put the team together.
Now for 2011 it depends on how much cash, resource and quality engineers (from other teams?) Mercedes can inject into the team.
They will never put as much as Honda did to design the 2009 car, but they have to find a right balance to maintain development so that (hopefully) a good 2011 car doesnt fall back mid season like last year.
If not, i dont think MS will stick longer that 2011.

Yup. The 09 Brawn car had a development time of about 10 months, almost 800 staff and more than one wind tunnel. This year's Mercedes was about 6 months, with 450 staff and one wind tunnel and a heck of a lot less cash. Next year's the year when the excuses will genuinely run out; this year is a product of what we saw over the winter of 2008 - 2009.

I'd be surprised if they're not back up there in 2011 - remember that all the other teams are going to have to slim down to this supposed lower staff limit, which Mercedes have done in advance.

But I think that only the future can tell, but I must agree that Schumis perfomance on Sunday wasn't that great:-(

I think Schumi would of gotten a top 5 if it wasn't for the early pitstop lottery call that went against them.

Schumi is just not having a good time, hes been quite unlucky. I think he has the potential and i believe we will see him on the podium by the end of the season.

My problem wasn't so much where he finished, but the way he just failed to realise Sutil was going to divebomb pass him. Fighting against Vettel was pointless as the Red Bull was much quicker, but against the Force India he just looked incredibly rusty, as if he was having to concentrate so much on purely driving that he didn't have his famed capacity to battle anymore.

Time will tell...

I think he didn't expect it. Underestimated the top speed of the FI and how quickly he closed, because coming out of the corner before that back straight he wasn't really that close, just the top speed of the FI and how quickly he closed in the slip stream i think really took him by surprise.

That move reminded me of Villeneuve suprising him at Jerez 1997 or Estoril 1996, but without the dramatic ending. Has Schumi also lost his bad blocking reflexes?
Anyway, still sad to see him unable to attack during races.

I think that is very unlikely because I saw an interview in our German TV RTL where he said himself that the podium this year is only possible if something in front of him goes terribly wrong

I think he is still doing quite well for a 41-year old bloke. Besides, I like to see him around again, brings some extra interest to the races to see him drive.

I think Schumacher once mentioned in an interview that he sometimes thinks of other things than driving when he is racing, it's like it doesn't fill 100% of his brain capacity. I wonder if that's still the case, and he is being too cautious because he is now a man in his 40s with a family? Who knows.

Well I used to karting and even I know when you not 100% concentrated on what you are doing you won't be successful

Just because your a man in your 40's with a family does'nt mean your mind starts wandering ,I think his reflexes are'nt as good they tend to leave you in your thirties and your testosterone depletes it a well known fact.
I think he should retire after his home race.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/scarsurfing?feature=mhee

Oh no I don't think so that would absolutely not be "Schumi"like

Scarsurfing just pointed out what I think is the biggest problem for Michael. The reflexes of a person decrease with age and this is very well known.

Reading stuff about Alzheimer's disease I found out that people who read a lot have much less chance of getting the brain affected because of the stimulus the act of reading brings and I imagine this can also happen to the reflexes. Barrichelo, as an example, is also aged but because he never stopped with top competition, he kept his brain stimulated regarding velocity of reaction(reflexes), Michael didn't.

I reckon the 3 years without strong stimulus made him lose forever some speed in reacting to the car's behavior.

Only a mere 1 tenth of a second of delay in someone's reflexes will make his laptime increase in a much bigger margin. If you brake 1 tenth further than you should, you lose the apex and have to reduce a lot the speed to make the corner, or if you take 1 tenth longer to correct the car you will lose even more time.

That's how I see this Schumi comeback, he hasn't lost the talent but just can't use it in it's fullness

No no, what I meant was that he mentioned it in an interview some years ago. It's not recently.

I think his results doesn't display his true performance. He's bit unlucky this year, and his pit stop strategies in few recent races also were'nt ideal.
The car is not suited to Schumi's driving style- that's another factor. Rosberg is a bit faster in this car spec, but he's also more lucky.

I would wait for 2011 and new Mercedes, suited to Michael's driving style.
I don't expect from him performances like these from early 2000s, but in decent car he should deliver some good results.
If not- he should retire at the end of 2011.

If I was Michael I would race in sportscars for Audi. He has won everything in F1, but didn't make it at Le Mans in his Mercedes Junior days. He was by far the fastest driver at night back in 1991

Le Mans overall would be a huge thing in his CV despite his all-time record 7 F1 WDC titles

Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell, Tom Kristensen - there must a line saying "Michael Schumacher" as well


But on the other hand - what he did wrong was riding in the German Superbike Championship. He would have found a new challenge if he'd started in the Supersport 600 class before

He's not that much slower than Rosberg, but with a car like that, what can one do? I think he might get faster next season.

He is getting faster it seems.

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