Schumacher: We won't challenge for title

Wed, 08 Feb 18:09:00 2012

Michael Schumacher says he does not necessarily expect Mercedes to build a car capable of challenging for the 2012 Formula 1 championship.

2012 Test Jerez Mercedes Michael Schumacher - 0

Mercedes is the only frontrunning team - and the only team other than HRT not to bring its 2012 car to the first pre-season test at Jerez. It will instead run for the first time in the second test at Barcelona in less than a fortnight.

Schumacher, running therefore in a 2011-spec car at Jerez, says it will take time for Mercedes to work its way to the front and it is therefore not realistic to expect its 2012 challenger to be a title candidate.

"I don't think we can realistically achieve a championship car immediately from where we started last year, we have to build our way there," Schumacher explained.

"I am confident we can do that, but let's take it step by step. We work longer on our car, but if this was the only secret we should have shown all the cars later."

Schumacher, who set the pace on the second day of testing at Jerez in the W02, nevertheless backed what he said was a valuable unveiling programme.

"Our programme is done in a way we believe in," he said. "We made some very good work with the new tyres, which are certainly much better for a driver they are more consistent and a lot closer to what you would expect from a Formula 1 tyre.

"Understanding those tyres was our main focus and we had a programme we did pretty well with."

Asked whether he still believed he could win a record eighth drivers' crown, Schumacher said: "Absolutely. I'm still around to fight for the championship. Whether we can or cannot do that is something to be proven this year - or whenever."

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  1. he is the chin

    From yammer dada, on Mon 20 Feb 1:54

  2. Schummy can still drive a car to its limit Make no­ bones about that children and he has nothing to prove.­ He can handle the press, He can pull wool over the­ sheep eyes too and he's dam good at it. The reason­ he won 7 champs is because he's arogant and he has­ the want, the need to win no matter how and thats­ something many out there don't have specialy The­ British. 1 year winging wonders. Have no fear he can­ and probably will worry the front runners again and­ that to me makes motor sport what it is. Happy days

    From Just waiting for god, on Sun 19 Feb 16:40

  3. And the Neg from some people in this forum to continue­ with poor knowledge and ignorance about the only MAN in­ this WORLD that did acomplished 7 Golden Crowns in­ 60
    years of Formula one.- The Legend,The­ Warrior,doesn't stop, CHAMPION without end.

    From PinoSchumi1, on Sun 19 Feb 3:13

  4. Glad to see Red helmet around the forum

    From PinoSchumi1, on Sun 19 Feb 2:02
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Part from looking at how the races were won you also­ have to look in how many years and how many races and­ than you see that Shorty is absolutely not the best­ there ever was. Even Gilles Villenueve did better than­ Shorty, he only did 4 seasons of max 14 races. Senna­ drove only for 9 years at an avarage rate of 15 races­ per year and still won 46 races and six times the­ Monaco GP and once stolen so 7 times in 9 chances,­ nobody does better. 65 poles in 146 races, nobody does­ better. Shorty cheated a lot, be it with the help of­ Todd and Eclestone and Briatore. So no, Shorty is way­ off the best, he is a mere blimp in F1 history.

    From Ice, on Sat 11 Feb 0:52

  6. @33 schumacher is the beat fact looks like u dont­ know much about f1 do you go and look at what ms has­ done you go on about times in f1 ms has his time fangio­ has his find out about f1 will you ms is all time best­ fact

    From Paul, on Fri 10 Feb 7:41
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Theo, I think it's hard to say who is the best­ driver of all time. To count Schumacher's number­ of wins isn't really a fair measure. You have to­ discount those numbers when you consider the number of­ wins with Ferrari. If the FIA applied the rules­ equally to all teams, it is certain that Schumacher­ would not have won the number of races he won. Also,­ the driver is only one factor in winning a race. ­ Obviously there's the car itself which contributes­ at least as much as the driver. And how can you­ compare some old driver, like Fangio, with another­ driver decades later? And finally, are you factoring­ in whether a driver cheats to win when you declare him­ the best driver? To me that makes a difference.

    From fishblue6, on Fri 10 Feb 4:07

  8. Mercedes have any expectacions,you know.Schuey is the­ Best Driver of all time. He wants to fight back.

    From Theo, on Fri 10 Feb 2:15

  9. Old grin and chin has been around long enough to pull­ the wool over so many idiots eyes. Wait till the Poss­ Brain (Brawn) delivers another spectacular achiever­ like he did for Button. !! NOT that I want to see him­ win even a single race, but the man who delivers toe­ best car to a fairly good driver is going to be up­ there calling the shots.

    From Yelena, on Fri 10 Feb 1:34

  10. Schumacher set the pace on the second day of testing,­ no one else came close all day, he was driving the old­ car...so how is he over the hill......too many netball­ players commenting on here....go away & play with­ your ****

    From mick d, on Fri 10 Feb 0:52

  11. Never been on top of the Hill, hahaha, that's a­ good one. You must mean that teastdriver that beat­ Shorty once and nearly twice if he hadn't been­ pushed in the wall?

    From Ice, on Thu 9 Feb 23:59

  12. Not "Necessarily" is a long way from­ Absolutely not. Mil @ 25 your real name must be Rip van­ Winkle.

    From James4usa, on Thu 9 Feb 23:50

  13. dont turn up then

    From BNP, on Thu 9 Feb 23:13

  14. so much for the three year plan

    From Ross M, on Thu 9 Feb 22:57

  15. He's not over the Hill, he was never on top of the­ Hill.

    From Mil, on Thu 9 Feb 22:12

  16. Does anyone recognise reverse psychology when they see­ it - apparently NOT!

    From V for Vendetta, on Thu 9 Feb 21:44

  17. Schuey is a canny man, I do recall a bullish Schumi at­ the start if his worst season in F1 - at least he has­ learned from that and all this pre-season banter is­ like a game of poker to me...... you can't believe­ anything until after qualifying at the first­ race...regardless I am enjoying the 'smoke and­ mirrors' that pre-season appears to of started with­ this year.

    From Andrew, on Thu 9 Feb 21:43

  18. Then what are you fighting for? Wasn't that your­ coming back from the grave to F1 is to be the champ,­ not to waste our time?

    From Fauzi, on Thu 9 Feb 21:36

  19. I find it very surprising to hear Schumacher already­ writing off Mercedes' title chances, if that is­ what he really said. The car isn't even ready­ yet.

    There's enormous pressure in Germany because­ of the amount of cash being invested, and it would be­ politically far more clever for him to say he thinks­ they will challenge for the title and then make excuses­ afterwards.

    From probablygraham, on Thu 9 Feb 20:41

  20. Is that really MS or a reptilian replacement, can't­ see his eyes in the photo ?

    Robert what ever anyone­ says in public is going to get shot down, grow up and­ get used to it !

    From Felice Tedechi, on Thu 9 Feb 20:33
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