The pressure on Michael Schumacher to perform is building, with David Coulthard questioning his tactics in the Canadian GP, whilst Martin Brundle described his drive as ‘appalling’.
The seven-time World Champion found himself involved in numerous incidents with Robert Kubica, Felipe Massa and Vitantonio Liuzzi – all of which avoided penalties despite being investigated by the stewards.
“He pitted three times and was still lapping over 4 seconds off the pace in his final stint,” Coulthard wrote in his Telegraph column. “He just could not get his tyres working and in my view resorted to some pretty questionable racing in an effort to hold position.
“He was particularly fortunate to escape sanction for the late collision with Massa, his old protégé at Ferrari. The rules are clear: you cannot make two moves under braking. I’m not sure why they let him off.”
Coulthard isn’t particularly sure why the German is struggling so much, but he has a few theories.
“What is wrong with him? I don’t know but something is clearly missing,” explained the former Red Bull driver. “It seems a case of one step forward, two steps backwards at the moment.
“I don’t think the reactions have gone, his fitness is fine and to be fair to him he has shown glimpses of his old race craft; the move on Alonso on the final lap in Monaco was like a visitation from the ghost of Schumi past.
“If I had to guess I would say it is F1 that has changed. Michael’s struggles with the new tyres are well documented but I have another theory which is that he is not a fan of the 18,000rpm limit. The power band of the engine is very small these days; there is no torque. You spend your whole race changing gears. I didn’t really enjoy F1 towards the end of my career for this very reason.”
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