Analysing the mystery of Schumacher's pace
Has Michael Schumacher lost his edge? Is his car to blame for his lack of pace? Does he need more time before he's back to his old self? Dieter Rencken sheds some light on the German's performance so far this year
While it may be melodramatic to suggest the sight of Michael Schumacher plodding around a sodden Shanghai International Circuit in tenth place in a Mercedes Benz - apparently easily capable of making the podium in the younger hands of Nico Rosberg - was akin to watching Muhammad Ali get thrashed by Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick in his twilight years, the fact is it was a sad performance.
One Schumacher openly admitted to not being particularly proud of after the race.
It is not, though, the seven-time champion's first disappointing race since making his much-vaunted comeback: he has been outqualified and outraced by Rosberg in every one of the four GPs this year. His team-mate, 16 years his junior, currently has 50 points for an average of 12.5 per race against Schumacher's 10 (2.5 per-race). A 500% difference, that...
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