Formula Brawn
Quite surprisingly for a team as efficient as Ferrari, the World Champions can't seem to find the improvement needed to give Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello a race winning car. Adam Cooper heard from technical director Ross Brawn where the Italians have gone wrong, and what he feels is the problem of Formula One today
As Michael Schumacher wandered away from parc ferme at Hockenheim, he had a grin on his face. He couldn't have enjoyed his run to fifth place very much, especially as at different points in the race he had been passed by Jenson Button and Giancarlo Fisichella. It was more of a resigned look, suggesting that he'd given his all, but, on this day, fifth was all there was.
He'd surprised a lot of people by qualifying in that position after the Ferraris had been far from the pace for most of the weekend. Many assumed that he was running very light on fuel, something he tried a few times this year, but in fact he had a very respectable fuel load on board. He had, however, gambled on a soft tyre that helped him to a good qualifying time but which left him struggling as the race went on. Rubens Barrichello went for the harder Bridgestone and had an utterly disastrous day, so there was no reason to criticise Schumacher's strategy too much.
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