Re: [F1] Michael Schumacher Fan Club.

[Schuy1]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL !!!!!

BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE, HAPPY & SUCCESSFUL 2012

- Thank you for your brave comeback to F1 so far - we fans certainly appreciate it !!!

HOPE YOU HAVE A BETTER CAR IN 2012

...... BENZ WISHES again !!!

- from your number 1 fan in Australia

[lightmas]

Happy Birthday Schumi, who said 43 is too old to drive in F1?

[KoKiNa]

Happy birthday Schummy...

"No, you're never too old to rock and roll, if you are too young to die"

[Schumacat]

Happy Birthday Schumi. Hope this year is better for you in F1.

[arizal_adl]

Happy Birthday Schumi, may this year, you get to beat Rosberg.. and stand on the podium.

[freddie]

Is that your cat Schuy1?

[Schuy1]

Is that your cat Schuy1?

Ha, .... No Freddie, my little dog Basil wouldn't like it if I got a cat ..... I just borrowed the pic off the web!

[PURIST]

I'm late to the party, but happy birthday Michael! Hope 2012 will bring you a lot of luck!

[Schuy1]

Pity it's not in the 2012 car - but nice all the same !!

Michael Schumacher fastest as Mark Webber is best-placed of 2012 cars in Jerez test

By Sam Tremayne Wednesday, February 8th 2012, 12:13 GMT

Michael Schumacher led the way in the second morning of Formula 1's pre-season test at Jerez, while Mark Webber was the best of the runners in 2012 machinery.

It was the Australian who set the early pace as he dropped down to a 1m19.184s, at the time putting him 1.1s clear of the field.

While all eyes were therefore on Webber and the RB8 - the car with which Red Bull is bidding to defend its 2011 crowns - it was Schumacher who stole the limelight with a series of blistering laps.

A three-lap burst allowed the German to get down to a 1m18.622s, which he duly lowered on his next run, dropping to a 1m18.561s.

That was comfortably enough to put the German top halfway through the second day, with Webber - unable to improve on his early time – finishing second, more than half a second down.

Daniel Ricciardo was the only other driver to dip below the 1m20s mark, putting him third fastest at the midway mark of a session in which yesterday's pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen suffered an early off at Curva Dry Sac.

The Finn had completed just four laps when he ran wide and into the gravel at the tight right-hander. He was able to rejoin, but damaged his car on the kerbs as he did so.

He also dragged gravel onto the track, leading to the first of two early red flags – the second following shortly after for further checks at the corner.

Lotus took the opportunity to not only repair his car but also adjust the steering column, and when he was able to get back underway he quickly rose to fifth – behind Force India reserve driver Jules Bianchi, who completed 46 laps before handing over to Paul di Resta for the afternoon.

Jenson Button took McLaren's MP4-27 to sixth fastest, more than two seconds down on Schumacher.

Felipe Massa was little more than three tenths further back for Ferrari, with the team again choosing to focus on aerodynamic and set-up work rather than chase outright laptimes.

After competing just 25 laps yesterday Pastor Maldonado enjoyed far more running in the Williams, ending eighth fastest after completing 61 laps in the morning.

Sergio Perez, taking over Sauber duties from Kamui Kobayashi, edged Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen for tenth. The Finn put yesterday's broken starter shaft woe behind him by completing 78 laps, the most of any driver.

Pedro de la Rosa in the 2011 HRT rounded out the morning's runners.

Morning times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Michel Schumacher Mercedes 1m18.561s 53
2. Mark Webber Red Bull 1m19.184s + 0.623 58
3. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m19.587s + 1.026 41
4. Jules Bianchi Force India 1m20.221s + 1.660 46
5. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m20.239s + 1.678 26
6. Jenson Button McLaren 1m20.688s + 2.127 25
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m21.060s + 2.499 38
8. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1m21.197s + 2.636 61
9. Sergio Perez Sauber 1m21.289s + 2.728 35
10. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1m21.518s + 2.957 78
11. Pedro de la Rosa HRT 1m23.468s + 4.907 23

[PURIST]

Yay! Good to see his name on top, no matter what the circumstances are!

[Schumacat]

They are still testing with the old car so this time is worth even lesser than what the normal testing times would be worth ( which wouldn't be much either ). I just hope he would be topping the times during the season too.

Also, I had forgot to post this link earlier, but this one shows how hands on Schumi is with the car . Enjoy .

During my visit to Mercedes AMG before Christmas, the company set us a challenge that’s been put to other more notable visitors. In the engine build area, two engines were arranged in each bay, but without the coil pack, heat shield and exhausts fitted. Our task was to fit these parts to one side of the engine, along with tightening each fastener to the correct torque setting. A dozen journalists attended the day, the challenge being made even greater as the two current Mercedes AMG drivers had also previously completed the challenge.

The coil pack is handed over and the challenge starts...
The first job was to fit the coil pack. The four-pronged carbonfibre cased unit is a press fit atop each spark plug, then the we needed to connect CAN electronics interface near the front of the airbox.
Next the heatshield goes on... (eventual challenge winner watching intently behind)
A small reflective coated carbonfibre heatshield goes over the coil pack, attached with three small bolts, one of which is smaller and requires a different torque setting.
Access to the 24 exhaust studs under the engine was surprisingly good
Then onto the exhaust system, weighing about 3kg each exhaust is hand made from thin sections of inconnel welded together. Although the 4-into-1 exhaust is one assembly, there is some play in the primary pipes joints with the collector, so fitting the four exhaust pipes to the studs on the engine requires a little fiddling. Each exhaust pipe bolts to the exhaust port with three nuts, two above and to the side of the exhaust pipe, and one centrally below.
A blur of hand movement gets each nut threaded on...
Each of these 24 nuts being tightened to the same torque setting. With the engine up on the stand and being able to kneel below the engine, getting access to each fastener was surprisingly easy, none of the exhaust pipes being particularly obstructive. I’m sure doing the same job with the engine in the car and the floor fitted is a very different story.
A quick check that each nut is torqued correctly and the job's done.

I completed the challenge in 4m 30s and I was satisfied I’d done a good job. However ex Racecar Engineering magazine editor, Charles Armstrong Wilson completed the challenge in an impressive 3m 30s! Even though one (un-named) journalist took as long a 7m 57s, as group us journalists were confident we’d done a good job. But the teams Drivers had soundly beaten us all. Nico Rosberg did the challenge in 3m 15s, while Michael Schumacher did it thee minutes dead!

The job of the F1 engine builder and mechanic is a difficult and skilled one, the skills of the F1 driver are ever impressive and I’ll stick to drawing racecars and not working on them!

Source : http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/mercedes-amg-engine-build-challenge/

[freddie]

Cool article Schumacat!

I really really hope the W03 is a whole lot better than its two predecessors. It would be nice to see Michael at least in the podium for his last season. If the car is competitive, who knows, he might just extend his contract to several more years!

[PURIST]

Interesting. Maybe that's why Mercedes is interested in sigining MS for another 2 seasons.

Mercedes eyes new two-year deal for Schumacher

Mercedes is eyeing a new two-year contract extension for Michael Schumacher, according to the major German newspaper Bild.

The seven time world champion, having returned to F1 with the famous German marque in 2010, has not decided whether or not to continue his comeback beyond this season.

"Bild knows that Mercedes wants to keep him," said the newspaper, after the Brackley based team’s new W03 car was launched in Barcelona.

The report said Mercedes has decided to offer Schumacher, 43, a new two-year deal through 2014.

"Before we talk to any other candidate, our first contact will definitely be Michael," confirmed team boss Ross Brawn.

Schumacher commented: "I’ll decide when the time is right."

[freddie]

I'd like to see Michael do well this year and extend his contract

[Schuy1]

Interesting video of the recent Silverstone run of the W03 with a short interview with Schumi .... let's hope they have a good package this year!

[PURIST]

Interesting video, Schuy1. I hope the car is fast with all the innovations.

[Schumacat]

Mercedes seems to be quietly confident of their car this year. Hope they can fight near the front more often. Seems like they were very close to the Redbulls during the race simulations during the tests.

Michael Schumacher is not getting carried away with the positive winter testing programme his Mercedes team has enjoyed - and says the lessons of last year have made him more cautious ahead of the first race.

Twelve months ago, Schumacher and his Mercedes team believed they had a car capable of fighting at the front after topping the final pre-season test, only for its W02 to fall well short of those expectations.

This time around, Schumacher feels that Mercedes is in much better shape, but he says that he is keeping expectations more in check.

"The car is reliable which is already good," he told his official website. "The first impression was already quite positive. We were driving out of the box with the car and everything went well, so there is potential.

"We are heading into the season much better prepared than in the past two years, and we can fully concentrate onto the development of our car.

"The speed is promising. I hope we can show that in Melbourne. We were able to drive a lot during the tests and therefore learn a lot too, and we certainly have made a step forward. But I want to wait until after the first races to judge how big this step is and how much it is worth compared to our competitors."

Although some race simulation data over the tests has pointed to the possibility of the team being close to Red Bull Racing, Schumacher believes his rivals remain ahead of the opposition.

Speaking about his own chances of winning in Melbourne, Schumacher said: "Victory to me is unlikely, I see Red Bull in front. Behind them it will be tight, and you can be either hero or zero very quickly. It will come down a lot to the ability of how well you will be setting up your car to the respective track."

Asked about why he was playing down his prospects so much, Schumacher said: "Because we have experienced last year that you can be very wrong relying on the data coming out of the winter tests. And because we can see that the field will be very narrow this year.

"I do not have a clear picture yet. What we can say though is that the gap between several teams will not be as big as it was last year."

Schumacher also reiterated that he was in no rush to decide whether or not he would extend his contract with Mercedes, which runs out at the end of this season.

"That's just totally unimportant at the moment, I don't even think about it now," he said. "Now, it is all about focussing and concentrating on understanding our car, so that we will have a positive season. I will certainly not be nailed down now."

Schumacher not getting carried away despite stron pre-season for Mercedes

[PURIST]

It will be interesting to see what difference W-duct and other innovations will make. If those work wonders, they will be contender from race one, like 2009 Brawn was. I hope that will be the case.

[freddie]

Yes please! At least I hope the car can battle for podiums (wins aren't that bad either!).

Can't wait for next week's GP!

[Rus-Evo]

It will be interesting to see what difference W-duct and other innovations will make. If those work wonders, they will be contender from race one, like 2009 Brawn was. I hope that will be the case.

They need to start well out of the blocks, I am not sure Merc are known for being able to develop super rapidly during the year (as much as the other top three).

[PURIST]

I agree, but this year might be a bit different with the addition of new personnel. Other teams were curious why Merc have a few top people in a single team who are good enough to be team principals in other teams, so hopefully they will do well with the development this time.

[Rus-Evo]

I wanna see Schumi and Vettel fighting over race wins lol..........

[PURIST]

That will be epic!

[Rus-Evo]

It would be epically crash-tastic, fist-fightingly smasharoo......... with a side of BOOF!!

[arizal_adl]

As 2012 is about to start, let's look at Michael 2011

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/8370524/Michael_Schumacher_2011_Spirit_of_Champions