Mercedes has denied it’s planning to build its 2011 F1 car to suit Michael Schumacher’s driving style.
The German driver has struggled on his return to the championship and has put this down to the characteristics of his Mercedes and the new specification Bridgestone tyres.
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Despite this Ross Brawn, Mercedes team boss, moved quickly to dispel rumours that next year’s car would be tailored for Schumacher’s driving style.
"We are not building a car around Michael; we just want to develop a good car," said Brawn. “There is no special characteristic.”
Brawn did however state at the Italian GP that Schumacher's 2011 campaign depends on the performance of the new Pirelli control tyre introduced next season.
He told Auto Motor und Sport that team has been recruiting staff in the area of car/tyre interaction, though this is likely to be true of all F1 teams as they hope to gain an advantage when the new tyres are introduced.
Brawn said Mercedes’s poor season is due to the effort the team put into winning the 2009 title as Brawn GP and the fact that the 2010 car was built when the team thought 2009 champion Jenson Button would still be driving for the team.See all the latest F1 reviews, news and video
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Re: 'Merc not tailoring car for Schu'
You know what, sometimes I just can't believe what I'm reading! The mark of a really great driver is usually that he will outclass his team-mate. Everyone knows that. Hill outclassed Coulthard, Schumacher outclassed all of his. If you put everyone in exactly the same car, we all know who the top three drivers would most likely be. The king has no clothes - Schumacher has lost it. Rosberg outclasses him, not because he's a really great driver, but because Schumacher isn't even good enough to partner him! At some point Brawn will surely wake up and realise this.
You don't need to build a car around a great driver, he'll win no matter. Schu isn't a great driver anymore.
Re: 'Merc not tailoring car for Schu'
It's definitely a tyre issue. The narrower front tyres they've got this year have made the cars more understeer biased. Rosberg is coping better than Schuey, but after years of pointy Ferrari's, Massa has been having similar problems too. I wonder what difference Pirelli will make next year.
Re: 'Merc not tailoring car for Schu'
It would make more sense if they were to tailor it to Rosberg. He seems to be the quicker and the one who's career might still be described as evolving and advancing.