Will Schumacher get on the podium?

[N12ck]

I was wanting to know what peoples opinions on this

[raymondu999]

Do you mean this year, or in his comeback in general, or...?

[Gerhard Berger]

I said not sure since it depends if Mercedes make the necessary improvements to the car.

[N12ck]

Do you mean this year, or in his comeback in general, or...?

next year, as this year is extremely unlikely

[doink]

I think the question should be, will Mercedes produce a car that will give the driver a chance of a podium? If yes, then, I can't see why not - I'm sure he's still got it.

[Trailer23]

Question is if MercGP can match the pace of the Mclaren. Same engine & all.

Red Bull & Ferrari don't count.

[Morteza]

It depends on Mercedes. It the same about Nico as well. I think Mercedes has a great driver line-up which has helped them in showing the car better than it really is. Schumacher had really impressive races this year in W02. If he gets a better car, I have no doubt that he will get the most out of it. A podium finish or win, why not? We have to see how competitive a car W03 will be compared to the other top teams' cars.

[marcush.]

The car still is average .I don´t think Rosberg and Schumacher would have scored less if they had a ForceIndia instead of a W02.
To get results you just cannot hope for circumstances to help you.But surely MGP needs to improve not only car speed wise but also as a team .They are 4th at best in terms of reliability and glitches as well methinks maybe some other teams do a better job considering the recources and drivers...

[Richard]

Normally, a car that is 4th in the WCC would have got a few podiums, but this year isn't normal.

The number of podiums for 4th placed WCC are:

2011 - none to date
2010 - 3 podiums - Merc
2009 - 5 podiums (inc 1 win) Ferrari
2008 - 4 podiums (inc 2 wins) Renault
2007 - 0 podium Renault (assuming McLaren won WCC)
2006 - 3 podiums (inc 1 win) Honda


We normally see the fifth team getting podium places too...

2011 - 2 podiums Renault
2010 - 3 podiums Renault
2009 - 5 podiums Toyota
2008 - 2 podiums Toyota
2007 - 1 podium Williams (assuming McLaren won WCC)
2006 - 4 podiums Williams

So I'd say that even though a faster car would help, in any normal season the cars finishing 4th and 5th get podium places. This year they have been undone by the dominance of RB taking up podium places:

2011 - RB took 50% podium places
2010 - RB took 33% podium places
2009 - Brawn took 30% podium places
2008 - Ferrari took 30%
2007 - McLaren took 47%
2006 - Renault took 35%

So you have to go back to 2007 to find a 4th placed team with zero podium places. We can see that was also the year when one team dominated the podium with 47% of place compared to the typical 30%.

[dren]

I agree, that has a lot to do with it.

There is also a large gap this year between the top 2/3 teams and then the rest. Mercedes seems to be right in the middle of that gap fluctuating closer to the front or back depending on the track. I expect all teams to be closer next year in relative performance with the dumping of the EBD.

[dren]

But on the topic at hand, if the car is capable next year, Schumacher will get podiums/wins.

[Richard]

In any other year they'd have had a few podiums.

[marcush.]

Of the midfield runners
Mercedes- Renault-Force India-Sauber -Toro Rosso
there is absolutely no doubt which one is the strongest driver pairing.
I think car wise the pecking order is more like Renault,MGP ,TR,FI and Sauber but only because the FI and TR found their feet way too late this season and Sauber just was not prepared to invest into EBD development.

Schumacher does maximise what is in the package as does Rosberg so the next step forward can only stem from a much improved technical package in relation to all other teams.And this is the real challenge they have to make progress at a higher speed than REDBULL, MCL and Ferrari .At this time you cannot even hope for these getting it wrong as surely one of them will hit the sweet spot so you need to improve on your own pace more significantly than normal development would allow you.So only revolutionary things can erase that gap in a short time.

[Richard]

So you place Renault ahead of Merc on car performance? Kubica would have finished ahead of both Mercs?

[marcush.]

So you place Renault ahead of Merc on car performance? Kubica would have finished ahead of both Mercs?

I´m sure neither Robert nor Nico would have accepted to have the aero development stopped for Windtunnelupgrades in a crucial time of the year.I´m rather convinced of Kubica having scored a lot more points that Petrov until now and that would have brought him within reach of both Mercedes drivers...remember ,only 6 races ago both Renault drivers were in front of Michael in the standings and they scored podium finishes !