It was down to a poor car and not the performances of Michael Schumacher that the seven-time World Champion has failed to win with Mercedes. That is according to Dieter Zetsche, the Chairman of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.
“It is true that Michael Schumacher has not won in a Mercedes,” Zetsche explained to German publication Bild. “But we have had three years’ experience with each other, which was a lot of fun for me. Michael Schumacher has helped us grow our young team and they were three great years. Unfortunately, were have been unable to reach the top step of the podium, but it was always going to be three years from the outset.”
When directly asked whether Schumacher or the car was to blame, Zetsche replied:
“With both of our drivers, they have not been able to win the majority of races over the past three years. We are ahead on the engine front, but not with the chassis, so it would be totally wrong to blame Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Our goal now is to make the car faster”.
Discussing the decision to replace Schumacher with Lewis Hamilton, who switches from McLaren for the first time in his career, Zetsche clarified the thinking.
“The team held discussions with stakeholders on possible alternatives and decided which way we should go both medium and long-term,” he continued, adding that Schumacher could still succeed with another team. “Juan Manuel Fangio won his last championship at 46 and, with age, some skills can expand yet further.”
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