Why teams rallied round Schumacher

Michael Schumacher is statistically the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, and that success doesn't just come as a result of being fast behind the wheel.

With Autosport magazine looking back at the start of the Schumacher/Ferrari alliance in 1996 this week, it's worth reflecting on exactly what it was about him as a driver that made him so good to work with.

As Michael made his F1 debut for Jordan in 1991 when I was technical director, before moving to Benetton for the next race, I have a little experience of working with him and a lot of experience racing against him!

What any team really wants from a driver is for them to be someone they can believe in through thick and thin and someone that will put in 101 per cent no matter what is asked of them.

That is what separates the great from the good and Michael was unquestionably in the former category. His performance for the team both on and off the track meant that he bonded with those working with him and because of this he demanded the respect of being an undisputed number one within any team he would drive for.

If Michael requested a balance change to the car and if the designers or engineers came up with something that would improve it, then Michael would go faster.

Schumacher's crews normally had plenty of reason to celebrate © LAT

Many other drivers would just say that it felt better but not produce the laptime. Michael would.

That just gave the whole team satisfaction because they knew if they could make the car quicker he would go out and use it. If you find a way to improve the car's pace by a tenth and know the driver will exploit it, that's all the motivation you need.

The driver's main contribution within a team is motivation. I suppose you could say that success will bring motivation but actually that is not completely true. There is more to it than that.

Every member of a team, right down to the floor manager (cleaner), contributes to its success, and some of the drivers I have worked with didn't even know the names of their mechanics, never mind the cleaner.

From what I know, Michael would often visit the factory of teams he was driving for and go around and meet everyone. This sort of relationship is priceless when it comes to everyone clubbing together to achieve the impossible.

Some people say Michael was a good development driver. I'm not completely sure this is correct. I believe he drove for the day, he drove the car he had and worked very well with his engineers to get the best possible performance on a given weekend.

I have always said that, on a Sunday afternoon, Michael Schumacher was better than anyone else at getting the best performance out of the car he was driving. It might have had some balance problems, but he had the ability to get around these in a way some drivers couldn't get their heads around.

Anderson enjoyed working with Moreno © LAT

Of the drivers I have worked with (over more than one race), two stick out as being ones who really did have a great feeling for the car. These are Rubens Barrichello and Roberto Moreno. I worked with Rubens at Jordan and Stewart, and Roberto in several categories including Formula 1.

They could feel and knew how the car was reacting to their inputs and file that away. On the way into the pits, both of these drivers would be able to give you a very clear picture of what was happening.

This input allows the engineers to focus on a solution to the problem even before the car's wheels have stopped turning.

It's also about knowing what is really important. I have worked with drivers that could tell you the oil temperature in the middle of Turn 3 at Barcelona - info that means nothing but they feel they need to justify their existence!

I much preferred the driver just putting the message he is receiving from the car across to the engineers. Do the job then allow the engineers to do theirs and come up with the best solution.

One of the reasons Schumacher was such a positive team member was that he could drive the development direction, which drivers always do to an extent. Where they want to go will be deciphered by the technical director and engineers and hopefully turned into an engineering solution.

Hungary 1998 was a classic 'impossible' Schumacher win © LAT

It would make for a very difficult situation if the technical director was to tell the driver, 'You keep doing your job but we are not going to listen to you, and we are heading off in a completely different direction to what you suggested'.

But sometimes you will get into a debate about a set-up change. A successful driver will always be fairly selfish and have a strong feeling of what is correct. But the team can understand the bigger picture better and will push for what is the best for the car concept they are working with.

If you can get a situation where what the driver wants and what the team wants end up being the same then you are on your way to an enjoyable and successful period. Normally, success in motorsport is measured with the stopwatch and if either the team or the driver lose sight of this then you need to regroup.

One of the biggest jobs for the technical director is explaining to the driver how the car works and what he needs to exploit. An example of this was the exhaust-blown diffuser. If the driver didn't get the throttle open, then it didn't do anything. Sebastian Vettel excelled in this, but Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber struggled.

It's very important that the driver buys into the car he is driving. Through my time with Jordan, we had various drivers with experience from other teams and the one thing that used to wind me up more than anything else was when a driver would say that he would like the car to handle more like one he had driven elsewhere before.

A car concept has positives and negatives and on the day it is vitally important that you put your efforts into what will give you the best bang for your buck. Chasing a handling characteristic that another car had in a previous season is not the way forward.

The risk is that drivers can get too involved and think they know better than everyone. This is often when they are getting a bit too long in the tooth and trying to find a use for their experience!

Schumacher's first Ferrari win came in a very wet 1996 Spanish GP © LAT

Good drivers are good drivers, but if they lose that hunger they need to go off and do something else. That's why I always liked working with good, young drivers.

When a driver doesn't engage with a team it is normally because he thinks he is better than a team. This is usually more evident when an experienced driver ends up at a smaller team to try to rekindle the fire!

I always preferred drivers that didn't have an engineering mind. If a driver is too technically minded they wouldn't drive one of these things!

I believe Michael understood the engineering side of things but knew that his talent was in driving and that the engineers were as good at their jobs as he was at his.

In my limited driving experience, I was always thinking about all the nuts and bolts that make up a car. This can be detrimental to out and out performance and isn't something a driver should be concerned with.

It is true that the requirements of the driver from an F1 team have changed dramatically over time. Now you need someone who believes in the team more than the team believes in the driver.

Schumacher's talent was obvious from his debut with Jordan © LAT

Yes, they still need to have the inherent talent to drive a racing car fast, but when the engineers are trying to find better performance they will spend hours trudging through the data. With the amount of data that the teams currently gather they actually know if the driver breaks wind probably even before he does.

To win races, and in the end a championship, as a team you have to have everything. This includes the best facilities, management, budget, designers, engineers and, last but not least, the best drivers.

A team can give the driver a competitive car but he still has to use it to bring home the points. So many of them squander that vital end result.

As an example, just take Nico Rosberg, Webber, Felipe Massa, Barrichello, Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella, to name but a few. These were all drivers who drove alongside those who would win the world championship. They had the same opportunity but never succeeded in gaining the ultimate prize.

The absolute key thing any team wants is honesty.

When we ran Michael at Spa in 1991 on his first grand prix weekend, we were analysing the data on Friday night. One of the big hurdles was going through Eau Rouge without lifting.

Neither of our two drivers had successfully done this but Michael chipped in and said it wouldn't be a problem and that he was just getting used to an unfamiliar car - so he would be flat on Saturday. Our other driver, Andrea de Cesaris, said the same, so we were all happy.

On Saturday, a quick look at the data said a lot.

Michael was flat on the first lap of practice, but Andrea took until the last lap of qualifying before he succeeded.

This week's Autosport magazine - available in shops and online - takes an in-depth look back at the start of Schumacher's Ferrari era with the help of key technical figures John Barnard and Ross Brawn