Here is an interesting video discussing michaels driving style with telemetry http://molinier.thomas.free.fr/msdrivingstyle.wmv Cheers,
Thanks a bunch for the link. Interesting to see a young Michael Schumacher; in the interview he seemed almost timid! Fascinating analysis. The steering data was particularly astonishing. I wish we were privy to more such readouts nowadays.
An issue of F1 Racing Magazine around a year ago analysed Michael's and Rubens' telemetry. They've actually analysed the telemetry of quite a few of the drivers now.
That sounds like an interesting read. Most of the F1 rags I pick up seem to be saturated by irrelevant fluff, utterly pointless countdowns and pictures of semi nude pit babes. Now, the latter I don't mind so much, but I ought to keep my eyes better peeled for the important stuff. Cheers
Well, someone actually scanned and posted here the article I'm speaking of. I'll see if I can find it.
It's in pdf format and I can't post it as it's 1.14MB. ARGH! How did I download it from Fchat originally? Hmmmm
Yeah the Figuring Schumi article is a really good read and its more current than the video I posted. Schumi is soo smooth and carries more speed as he doesnt upset the balance of his car as he brakes while still on the gas. Really points out the benefits of left foot braking. I think Rubens and DC tried to start left foot braking in recent years. Schumis telemetry is really impressive. Into corners faster braking later and smoother and exiting faster.
The man is simply incredible, when it comes to driving. I think it is important to understand how much he has practiced in the past and currently works on fursther developing his skills. Instead of wasting time on opening hotels and bar clubs he keeps himself in good shape with soccer and hard work outs. In several interviews he has already talked about next year and his goal to remain competitive. He is doing what he loves to do and he loves to do what he is doing.
Rubens impressed the racing world in Suzuka 2003 where he did a stunning first sector - when asked about it he mentioned that he adopted some of Michael's tactics to claw back some time going into Turns 1 and 2... If you go thru the Suzuka section of the PDF file you will see what I mean. But the thing about Michael is that he thought all this up himself. He never copied anyone's style. Sure he improved over time but he was impressive and pretty original from the start. I remember reading about the following incident in a biography of Michael published some years back that attest to his innate ability to get the best out of himself and the car: Eddie Jordan - who gave Schumi his first F1 ride at Spa - mentioned that this was the first time Michael had set his eyes on Spa circuit. Eddie's other driver was Andrea De Cesaris who fancied himself to be one of the Spa masters. Eddie asked Andrea to take Michael around the circuit and show him the braking points and such. Andrea was at this time negotiating for his contract for the next year and was reluctant to take Schumi around. Michael was least bothered and said that he didnt need any help and would figure it out on his own. He went to his rental car and picked up a bicycle from the trunk and went on a sortie to learn the track. Eddie at this stage pointed out Michael's ability to think ahead of what he might need at the circuit - impressive for a young man of 22. At the driver briefing prior to qualifying, Andrea was voluminous in his criticism of the Jordan's stability over the bumps particularly on the section of the track just before the Bus Stop chicane. He said the car was all over the place and was undriveable. Michael was sitting calmly through this tirade and Eddie turned to him and asked for his opinion. Michael said that he had noticed the bumps but had figured out a way to get through it without issues. What he did was upshift a gear and keep a steady throttle and this did the trick. This shows a keen thinking mind and a good racing brain at work even at an early age. Thus Michael in his first F1 race - qualified 8th in first QLF session - qualified 7th in second QLF session (0.773 secs ahead of De Cesaris) - Was 4th fastest during the warm-up session - unfortunately had a clutch failure after the start of the race that put him out of it.
HOLD IT JUST A SECOND!!!!!!!!! Where are our resident, "OH PLEEEEEAAAAASE just let Rubens race Michael!!!!" or "WHEENNNNN will Ferrari FINALLY let Rubens race Michael!!!!" "Waaaa waaaa waaa, etc., etc., etc." You know, the Ferrari/MS conspiracy guys..... Hello? You still out there? Anyone? Nothing like having the cold hard facts get in the way of a good story! Har! I saw this a while back and mention it whenever the MS-RB debate comes up. I just wish more people would read it. Jim
The video and the article where great. I love the part in the article when they Ask Ross Brawn what's one of Micheal's weaknesses. "Lack of concentration when he's domination a race". It's just amazing he has the ability to chit-chat on the radio while doing the speed they do.
Here Again LopeAlong you have missed understood me. I 100% know that MS is faster than RB. I have read the same article in the F1 mag where they did the telemetry analysis ... but I did not need to see that 'cause I already knew that MS was faster and about 80% of why. Thus WHY do Ferrari keep on playing silly unnecessary number 1 games? RB on a level playing field will never beat MS, so why tactically destroy RB's race to help MS? Yes they can not pit together at exactly the same time, but we have all watched RB told to let MS pass, when for once RB was driving better. This was not required as out of say 100 races, MS would beat RB in 95 of them ... thus MS would deserveably be the WC. By Ferrari forcing RB to submit to MS publically just makes some think that MS is not as good as we all know he is, and that he needs help. He does NOT need RB's help ... never has and never will, but Ferrari management don't believe that is true Pete
PETE! I never.....even.....thought of......YOU! Heh! Heh! Seriously, I was not directing this one towards you. I think we have hashed and re-hashed this one to death! Believe me, I understand where you are coming from! BTW, If you can get to the States for the USGP, I would be happy to buy you a beer or ten! Wait a minute! Weber will have won his first GP by then, and you will owe me a few Fosters! Perfect! I know I'll never get down to your neck of the woods, although I wish I could. Jim
We have a bet? ... no worries I'll happily buy you a beer or two if Weber's winning races. Currently the chances of me getting to the States are very slim ... pity as I would love to drop into New York and say hello to Jim and his car collection. I knew there was a reason why I should have stayed at my old job ... Pete
Worked fine for me. I think you guys are missing some key points here. One is that MS came along to F1 at the right time for him to take advantage of his driving style. That style being the SAME style every go-karter has. Braking with the left foot only because of the way a kart is set up. Gas on the right of the steering column brakes on the left. When he started F1, after a very successful career with Mercedes in Prototype racing not to mention F3, gearboxes were being build very similarly to the shifter karts being run. A sequential shift like a motorcycle. If you didn't have a gear box like Ferrari's back then you had one of these. This allowed MS to move into his element. To drive as he had all of those years as a child behind his family home and the kart tracks of Germany. Yes, the others he had been racing against at that time also had raced karts. But, they (I would argue) had been out of it for so long that the adaptation to using a regular gear box had replaced their former technique of left foot braking. MS on the other hand had never stopped driving karts. Technique is something that indeed is learned. It means training the brain and muscles to work as you want them. Getting the synapses to fire correctly to specific input to move your muscles. If you're having to relearn something, like going from right foot heal-toe braking to left foot, you are literally teaching your brain to fire different synapses to control different muscles for the same inputs you had been using for what you had been doing before. Try kicking a soccer ball after a few years after not having played. How well can you do it? It'll take some time to get back up to scratch. But, the muscle memory is there and the brain once firing the proper signals will begin to do so with more efficiency as you do it more. Practice make perfect. Would MS be as dominant as he was during the 90s if he was racing say in the 80s? I think not. It isn't until recently that his peers currently racing against him are utilizing the same left foot braking technique. Unfortunately the Ferrari has been so much better than the other cars that we haven't been able to see a true test of his mettle. If the other cars are up to the task I think we could see some great racing. Jenson Button is a good match. And I'd say (I'll get flamed for this) Takuma Sato will be as well (dont forget he's only been racing since the age of 23 as opposed to MS- what, five years old or something like that)? That's just two. Fernando A., anyone who's got the presence to shoot the bird while heading backwards into a barrier at over 90mph has my vote, and Jarno T. are two others. That's not even mentioning Kimi or JPM. There are also another four I could mention. Let's hope we get a good level playing field so we can see how good he is. With Senna there was Prost. And Mansel. And Pique. And Keke. And a whole host of others. But, Senna had Prost in the same car when the playing field wasn't level. MS I'm going to say doesn't have that. Because of the talent level of RB or because of the way the team is structured we'll never know. Which brings us to what every great racing driver has looked for when choosing a team. Unfair advantage. Every great driver wants it. MS has built it himself at Ferrari. And no argument I make or anyone else makes can take that away from him. He's been the only driver in the history of the sport to do so. Which I would argue though, is what we really should be celebrating about MS. His vision of what could be, what he can create.
