Why Schumacher’s Mercedes Comeback Was a Failure

[@whyareyoureadingmynickname8158]

Can it really be considered a failure, though? He was hired to develop the car and to create some positive buzz around the new team, no one really expected him to win races (OK, maybe some people did). He did his job just fine.

[@rhodriedwardwilliams]

I think he was great. The main problem was people didn’t rate Rosberg as highly as he later proved himself to be. Everyone expected Schumacher to dominate him but Nico was a Future world Champ on the rise

[@skat_16]

I mean he didn't failed the comeback. He is just trying to adapt with the new car. And i guess he didn't failed that much.

[@isaacm2374]

Yes. Michael stated at the time of his comeback his intention to fight for wins and championships. Obviously, Mercedes for 3 years where not in a place to do that. Also, Schumacher had little to no impact on Mercedes success in the hybrid era in 2014. Like Rosberg said, the drivers had no idea that Merc will produce a monster engine.

[@deancameron8378]

I think he helped develop the car and develop a buzz and sponsorship so it was a success to me

[@markgc65]

Niko hardly set the world on Fire though he was out raced by Lewis 99% of the Time. All that said I Am sure Michael put Mercedes on the right course for their winning streek that followed he was and still a F1 legend! I will always be a Fan.

[@jorgemacedo7298]

I think how successful Schumacher’s comeback is depends on how you look at it. Despite his occasional moments of brilliance, it was not what we expected from a sporting and results perspective, even if he never had the machinery. But from an influential perspective, it was a massive success as he gave Mercedes the knowledge and mentality that is needed to dominate F1. I personally think that his comeback was what was realistically possible given his age and machinery at the time. Regardless, keep fighting Michael 🐐❤️

[@Idk56373]

Let’s not forget his injury

[@heliogt1961]

i think. he layed out the foundation of the success mercedes had in recent years. i doubt mercs would have been so dominant if it wasnt for him starting the development of team and car. yes his results in the 3 years werent anything like his first stint in f1. but for a 40+yo man i think he did well and we all miss him dearly.

[@citoante]

The tires were a problem for him. He was always driving on the edge, and now he couldn’t. He called the tires like driving on rotten eggs.

[@MrBboyflexibi]

I think people really forget how hyped everyone was in 2010 when he came back. That’s like imagining Hamilton not winning for 3years on the trot & no podiums only on the 3rd year

[@fk4410]

Honestly the most important person that brought mercedes back to the top was niki lauda not schumacher or brawn. Schumacher left 1 1/2 years before the rule change. He was driving those new cars and engines. And a driver doesnt have developmental impact during the phase when an engine isnt in a car and a car isnt build

[@Shaggy12321]

In 2010 it was clear Rosberg had an advantage, 2011 they were pretty much equal, trading blows and finished very close in the WDC. In 2012 however, Schumacher was a clear step ahead of Rosberg, if not for all of his insane bad luck, he would have finished a good 40-50 points clear of him. Gearbox issue in Aus, Got Grosjeaned in Malaysia, DRS failure Canada, Pitstop issue China, Crash with Senna in Spain, Grid Penalty from POLE in Monaco, then an engine failure. If you look at the races where neither driver had an issue in 2012, Schumacher convincingly beats Rosberg 75% of the time, the guy who then went on to match Hamilton in 2013-2014. I'd consider Schumachers performance in 2012 a big success

[@speedmann194]

👍 I totally agree. The fact that 2012 was his strongest year makes sense as-well. Because although he was 43yo with slower reflexes, compared to 41 yo He needed 2010,2011 to loosen off ring rust.

[@flyingphoenix113]

Michael was a beast in 2012. His feedback into the development of the chassis and aero was finally translating into on-track competitiveness. Just imagine if he would have stayed for 2013 and onward...

[@itswais77]

Canada and Spain he wasn’t on for big results…. He was fighting for podiums at Silverstone and Spa too but ofc small gearbox glitches and ths

[@judgedrew2076]

He had advantage in 2010 cause he was away for 3 years

[@neilashton9244]

Agree with almost all this, Rosberg did not match hamilton in 14/15, he was convincingly beaten.

[@DaveMcKeegan]

Schumacher's comeback left more of a legacy than most probably realise - yes he wasn't as competitive on track, probably due to the car not suiting his style (given how well he still preformed in the rain and around Monaco shows he still had the reflexes) But Toto Wolf has himself confirmed that Schumacher was instrumental in getting Mercedes to invest much heavier into the F1 team, that investment is what allowed Merc to develop the dominance they had in the sport from 2014-2020

[@kgandrala]

Michael Schumacher was so good, his failures might be some midfield drivers dream years

[@AmsterdamHeavy]

He was hired to develop the car and Nico while being the German legend for the new "German" team. He did EXACTLY what he was hired to do and it hasnrt damaged his legacy one bit. If anything, it shows the depth of his knowledge and his ability to raise the potential for an entire "new" team through his effort.

[@eriknaamot]

Fully agree 👏👏👏 well said :)

[@tjroelsma]

But would he have done it if he knew the Mercedes was that bad? Mercedes arguably had the most powerful engine, but they also had a horrible chassis. I had the feeling back then that Schumacher had underestimated how bad the Mercedes was. He probably knew he wouldn't be competing for the championships, but I believe he would have expected to score at least a few podiums, not in his first year, maybe not even in his second year, but for his third year with Mercedes someone of the calibre of Schumacher must have believed he would have been driving for a number of podiums finishes. His results therefore must have been a disappointment to him.

[@jackvv757]

1 big mistake Mercedes made was they tried to make the car short/small like Michaels old cars, but the 2010 regulations allowed the car to be longer witch most teams did and was the right decision, but Mercedes went with the short car design which turned out to be slower and unbalanced

[@Cognizant-ut9oj]

Yes but he always tried to make Rosberg small. Maybee its part of his character. But nice guys dont win titles.

[@AmsterdamHeavy]

@@Cognizant-ut9oj I think he very well may have been teaching Nico mental resiliency in his own way. Or he was still a dick, but I think Michael had mellowed by then.

[@jawnwane4959]

Everyone can have their opinion on who’s the best between Lewis or Schumi but Michael passing the torch to Lewis is truly poetic

[@Niikkos]

Nah, it was poetic when "Schumi" put it in the rock and passed the torch to his son on the slopes, "Mick this moment represents your future F1 career ... I am sorry son, you are trash." A real tear-jerker moment between father and son.

[@jadynhasstupid2275]

@@Niikkos bro you are actually a weirdo, find god.

[@skylur5910]

@@Niikkos Its actually really sad that you're willing to go that far to get a reaction out of people/get the attention you want lmao. Grow up

[@gandalf_thegrey]

@@Niikkos What a sad person you are.

[@pepsiaxe2937]

@@skylur5910 I mean Schumacher was dirty and a cheat

[@laurak7247]

What you said in the end sums it up quite well. Lewis and Toto build their success on the foundation of Michael's time at developing the Merc team. Which makes it even more sad that he never got to see their success. He would be so proud of what this team became.

[@the101guy5]

Michael probably has seen the success, but it must be difficult for him to express his opinions about it. The poor guy can't talk or walk anymore

[@Chazza534]

idk if he'd be proud, or maybe a bit regretful of retiring when he would have had a championship winning car at his disposal if he stayed with merc instead of retiring.

[@megawave79]

Don’t forget Niki Lauda. He is the main person responsible for the success of Mercedes. Above all others.

[@satyasrikar4677]

5:37 "Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.. they were in a different league" goosebumps

[@Cle_M3]

Golden era 😩

[@Utopian_Futures]

Brawn didn’t recruit him from retirement to score wins and titles he was recruited to build up a dominating future champion team. He won his first Benetton title during his 4th year and he won his first Ferrari title during his 4th year at Maranello. Dominance and success doesn’t come overnight. His main job was to develop car and team, Rosberg‘s main job was to score podiums and points. Their responsibilities werde absolutely different. In addition he had much bad luck due to technical failures and didn’t get used to the overregulated penalty system. If those penalty regulations had existed back during the 90s half of the grid would have been given drive-thru penalties every race. In addition to all of that he was 41 years old, after so many years of setting-up new standards of ambition and self-sacrifice his family had a higher priority. During his Ferrari years he rarely got to see Mick because half of the race-free weekends he spent at Maranello with his engineers. It’s the same reason Vettel is far away from his former invincibility, family and environment nowadays having a much higher priority for him than F1. Sorry for that long text but this ignorant "just looking at the championship points“ makes me upset

[@AmsterdamHeavy]

Im 100% with you about the ignorant ass perspective.

[@isaacm2374]

That goes against what Schumacher said. He literally said that he wanted to come back to win titles and races. Which didn't happen. You're basically changing the narrative. You really think Brawn told Nico to score points and podiums and Schumacher to "build" a car. That's sounds ridiculous. Tell me how Schumacher built the V6 turbo hybrid engines that Mercedes used to dominate in 2014?

[@AmsterdamHeavy]

@@isaacm2374 No one hires a driver 4 years out of the sport to win "titles and races"....not even The Michael. Thats beyond delusional.

[@isaacm2374]

@@AmsterdamHeavy Is your words against Michael's. Schumacher literally said he came back to compete for championships. You are putting words in people's mouths.

[@AmsterdamHeavy]

@@isaacm2374 Do you know what "hype" is? Do you understand what "fan interest is"? I will say it even more bluntly...only an idiot...perhaps you...would think that ANY, repeat ANY driver can come back to F1 after a 4 year break and win races, much less a championship. Additionally, Brawn was broke and barely made it through their championship season after Russ bought the team for ONE EURO. What Mercedes bought was the shell of a team with almost no infrastructure and they knew instantly they they had a lot of work to do to actually create a works F1 team. No one at Mercedes, NO ONE, was expecting to win races the first couple years. Learn about wtf youre jabbering on about instead of throwing one off meaningless quotes at me. Casuals....what can you do with them?

[@DaniMacYo]

People who don’t fully understand just look at the points and don’t realise why the table looks that way. What’s impressive is how he got better as he got older in his 3 seasons. He was clearly the better Mercedes driver in 2012 but had far too many DNF’s and issues. Some his but most the car. He still had the speed that’s for sure.

[@DanielLorey]

His last lap pass on Alonso after the SC at Monaco was 🔥. Even though it was within the rules he got punished but showed how hungry he still was.

[@pn5984]

Thank you very much for this awesome video. As a fellow German, it was actually great to see him coming back cause given my age, I narrowly missed out on his glory days contiguously. The three years have been, on a sporting site, a mixed bag, given the circumstances and the cars. But apart from that, there still was an aura about him. I mean, it was still the great Michael Schumacher who was battling with the young guns. His 2012 season is pretty underrated tbh. Especially his quali performances in the first half of the season have been suberb at times. Just seeing him in the top 3 press conference afterwards just gave us a warm feeling that the old man still got it. Unfortunately, the performance of that car tailed off by the end of the year. Up to this day, I still cannot comprehend how he was able to put that car in P5 at Austin

[@趙祖睿]

Himself, yes that bike crash in 08,09(which i forgot which year) does injury his back,affect his performance especially when someone age late 30's was considering past prime in modern days F1. But for the Mercedes, no is not a failure and Micheal's knowledge about building a great car. It does lay great foundation for the team

[@StephenLMW]

How can you call Michael’s comeback a failure when he literally helped develop the most dominant winning machine between 2014-2021, Michael also helped Ferrari win 2 more consecutive World Constructors Championship titles between 2007-2008, so if you look at it all in all Michael has really won 17 World Championships 7 as a driver and 10 as a car developer, keep fighting 🏎️🏎️🏎️🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪🐐🐐🐐

[@schumi4everx752]

Such a great Video, thanks Aldas❤ imagine Schumi is still walking around in the starting grid with his sunglasses, chillin, an giving interviews, that would be epic 🥹

[@Torres9MZ]

He supported a new team with his expirience and knowledge. His team mate later became a word champion and the team became one of the most dominant teams in F1 history. So I wouldn't say it was a failure. Yes, Michael couldn't fight for race wins and podiums but he had massive share in developing the team.

[@botortamas]

1. Just shows all the more respect Alonso deserves on his comeback. He hasn’t lost any of it and is becoming sharper by the second. He can easily challenge the best given the car. The same cannot be said about Schumacher on his return. 2. I can see a similar ending for Lewis as Schumacher had in his first career. Dominating till a bad 05 season with a bad car and final push for the title in 06 with a competitive car. I feel the same scenario playing out for Lewis. This year was his 05 and then next year one last push for the title with a more competitive car. Mark my words.

[@As-qz5lr]

Alonso isn’t quite as sharp as can be seen by his Q3 performances where he seems to struggle more vs Ocon after smashing him in almost every session leading up to it.

[@joshimura1995]

Alonso was 2 years younger and never stopped competing tho. Schumi did nothing besides some bike racing where he almost broke his neck.

[@botortamas]

@@As-qz5lr Alonso eats ocon for breakfast in most races.

[@botortamas]

@@joshimura1995 Schumacher stayed within the sport as an advisor for Ferrari and even tested during his time away. Plus he came back off consecutive title winning or contending years. Alonso meanwhile came back fully recharged after years of miserable luck and machinery. That’s a huge difference in confidence.

[@As-qz5lr]

@@botortamas true but in his peak qualifying would have been a bloodbath too.

[@xychosisGG]

“It’s good to say goodbye, and maybe this time it’ll be…forever.” Man, this quote is so depressing in hindsight given the unfortunate incident that followed shortly after his retirement. I don’t think Michael’s return should be viewed as a failure. Those Mercs he drove had pace but were clearly closer to the midfield than the front. He had spent three years away from the sport and was in his 40s. He had moments of absolute brilliance. It’s like Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards, y’know? That run shouldn’t detract from his titanic legacy at all. Forever a legend

[@karl9046]

Haven't watched the video, but MSCs style is similar to that of Verstappen, however he rotates the car even more, which was working with the Brigestone Tyres really well. However the Pirellis would get too much surface temperature on the rear, meaning he could never use his natural style in the Merc, even if the car was developed for that kind of driving.

[@robertcarr4172]

Max reminds me more of MS than any driver before.

[@woodenhoe]

Max is like a perfect mix of Michael and Ayrton

[@woodenhoe]

@windfall typical princess lulu fanboy that still can't move on from Abu Dhabi

[@Niko-fi4vv]

@@woodenhoe lewis got robbed

[@woodenhoe]

@@Niko-fi4vv massa got robbed too

[@Vasco_M_]

Michael developed a car with Rosberg which became the dominating car of the hybrid era and LH and Nico won championships with. I’d say that was a very successful come back for Michael.

[@RikiJasmin]

Bullshit. Michael had absolutely nothing to do with this car. I don't get why people make up stories out of thin air.

[@erhhsdhh2099]

@@RikiJasmin100%, one of the few people I’ve seen that actually talks sense. It’s just glazing at its finest. Schumacher will always be one of the best ever, no denying that, but yea he’s not an engineer at all. The people who actually understood the 2014 regulations were Brawn, Aldo Costa, Mike Elliot etc

[@AnimaDweller]

I never considered his comeback as a failure. At any rate I always thought that his new role was to develop a car, not so much to fight for wins and results. Thats why Rosberg was there, also I think probably people tended to understimate Nico's ability. And can we really call Michael's return a failure when the team he helped build those first rough years when that same team started to dominate almost right after he thought he had helped enough? I'd say hedis jsut what he wanted to achieve.

[@rinners]

Cool, do one on how Mick is progressing better than K Mag and Ricciardo He is ahead of K Mag on net position finishes this season, by 1, but that is plenty to show he is equal at very least. And in the last 9 of 18 races he has scored 12 points to K Mag's 5. And finished ahead of him 5 of those times.

[@theracingban]

Damn you a big Mick fan

[@rinners]

@@theracingban I like stats, the stats say Mick is OK.

[@samie5073]

@darren stats are saying mick is getting destroyed by Kevin magnussen by 10points this season 🤣🤡 and that mick is a pay driver who only got into f1 because of his dad

[@karl9046]

@@samie5073 Lol 😂

[@m.mijsberg8663]

@@samie5073 you would be right if you were talking before Canada. But now your argument don’t make sense anymore. Kevin himself has admitted Schumacher is as good as him and hope he stays. I really don’t know why people hate mick so much

[@MordechaiKarp]

Aldas you're really crushing it. Your videos just keep getting better

[@drevinashcraft2485]

this was a perfect video to watch on break at work, thank you. you truly have a knack for making these type of videos

[@the_real_mo1keyn]

Alternative Title: "How Schumacher's Mercedes Comeback Failed Successfully"

[@MW1995-F1fan]

So, I guess that if he wouldn't be drained in 2005 and 2006 (as you mentioned), he would propably continue racing in 2007 and maybe 2008. Then his career would be even better. When you said about Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso being at the peak of their careers, it reminded me of last 2 years of Valentino Rossi in MotoGP, when he wasn't as quick as much younger riders like Fabio Quartararo or Francesco Bagnaia. And it was the same with Schumacher in early 2010s.

[@mr.g167]

I love these videos, Aldas is a Genuine fan and has such style and respect for the Sport and its heritage

[@cloudyskies1323]

I would say Michael return has shown how much he fundamentally understands how teams need to develop and win. It was a new team in essence with Brawn GP onwards. Michael’s feedback on every aspect is not seen today from drivers. He changed the atmosphere from a workplace to a family. Ross would have known how to tap into all these attributes to bring Mercedes into a winning team.

[@georgemavrides3434]

What ru talking about mate? MSc came back to rebuilt the Mercedes team on Ross Brawn's request (who is a great friend). Just like the pair did with Ferrari back in 1996. He was a second driver, not expecting to win any championships. The fruit of the 3-year labor was evident in 2013 when Lewis got a seat in the 2nd best car on the grid. And to put it to bed, despite the 7WC, Lewis is nowhere near Michael in terms of racing skills.

[@MtKrybnik13]

That's what makes Michael and Lewis quite similar drivers, is a fact that they were building whole team around them. I'm die hard Ferrari supporter, grown up on Michael's era, and not really a fan of Lewis, I have a lot of respect to Lewis, because of his similar way of working with the team as Michael did.

[@Reaz399]

Lewis never built anything. Can‘t believe some people actually compare Hamilton to Schumi in any way. Schumi in his prime had the power to get people to follow him to Ferrari and built up one of the most dominant teams ever, through years of hard work and dedication. All while he got those Ferrari tractors into title contention in the late 90s against those Williams/McLaren spaceships. Late 90s/early 2000s Schumi is the best driver this sport has ever seen. You can’t even compare that to Hamilton who made a daring move( fair enough since most thought that the Merc move would be terrible for him) but got into a championship team without doing much. Same as his McLaren days were he got a championship winning car from his first ever race onwards. Schumacher will always be the much greater driver and will always remain the most iconic one alongside Senna.

[@chickenindabox3169]

I'd argue that, while Lewis knows how to lead a team during their dominant phases, he's not on the same level as Michael when it comes to leadership of a struggling team. When he joined McLaren, for the first 2 years, they were literally in their best form since the Mika Häkkinen era. After that, McLaren just dropped off and Lewis jumped ship right when Schumi was done with helping Mercedes to be a front runner.

[@rodsitamara]

@@chickenindabox3169 michael wasnt the reason merc is a front runner? he may have helped but it was ros brawn and niki laudas baby. plus mercedes's consistency was perfected during the hybrid era clearly due to the influence of toto and lewis. lewis joined mercedes when it was a midfield car and i hate how people are trying to make it seem otherwise

[@chickenindabox3169]

@@rodsitamara you think they started developing the 2013 and 2014 cars when Hamilton arrived? They plan and start development years ahead, since everyone knew that there would be a huge change in 2014. Not just talking about the Car tho, Michael was a key component to Mercedes success as a team. Mercedes Team members, including toto, even mentioned the huge influence Michael had on the Team, working his ass off so they could succeed and inspire them to work just as hard. Michael passed that torch to Lewis and Lewis did a great job, but it would be unfair to not mention Schumacher's role as the foundation. Now it's Lewis' turn If he and Mercedes come back next year with a title challenge I'll take my words back. But for now, my opinion stands. I'm not saying Lewis isn't working hard, he clearly is. I also never said that he never had to fight it out in the midfield. I just said that Lewis is the guy to get all the performance out of a strong Team, but Michael is the one who makes the Team strong in the first place.

[@0megalul309]

@@rodsitamara lmao midfield car get a grip. Merc was already clear on their development for the new regulations, not focusing on the v8. Lewis never won with the top 2 car back in 2010, 2011, 2012. He knew he can't win without the outright fastest car and the merc project enticed him. Lewis right now is trying his best to sweep micheals efforts under the rugs but the merc team never forgets even tho lewis has.

[@eriknaamot]

A good piece, but i think it added to his legacy, because it helped Merc in the modern era! To put it this way, if he had the 2014-2016 Merc, he would have had wins, & atleast a silver medal in the championship. Michael was on Nico"s pace from mid 2011 right away until the end! Also dont forget Spa 2012, his 300th race. Where he was P2/ P3, for the most of it, sadly because of a late gearbox problem, he could not fight for it, such a shame about Monaco 12, it should have been HIS race ;) Actually Michael was offered a new two year deal for 13/14 at Silverstone. But due to long term motivation, he declined at Monza, & then in Singapore Niki went after Hamilton, & he was signed for 2013 & beyond! His comeback proved more then anything else, his pure love for the sport, & that driving & competing is what matters the most! #KeepFightingMichael #NeverGiveUp #RoadToRecovery #Win92 #ForzaSchumi

[@christianorsa]

Man that Schumi-Todt-Brawn combo/trio was something else

[@nickyboam3406]

No way was it a failure. He was hired to develop & build up a new team. He did what he was paid to do including getting Hamilton to join the team.

[@richardm5664]

That Valencia 2012 podium was one of the greatest driver line-ups.

[@Harley-ir4er]

Schumacher qualified 6th on his first race back but no one took any noticed as they were expecting him to be on pole - They expected too much. He hadn't raced in F1 for over three years and even Senna once said the winter break was a long time to be away from a F1 car. His comeback has nothing to do with his great achievements - In my opinion.

[@alexanderstormdahl2562]

I didn't know anyone considered it a failure. I think that's harsh, and a misrepresentation as he was part of developing a car that went on to win races and championships.

[@GIANNHSPEIRAIAS]

i find it very weird that people overlook what he did for the f1 safety

[@alexwingo8094]

On a small side note. Masa’s crash is devastating. Massa was and still is incredibly talented, but I don’t think he ever fully recovered from that crash in 2009.

[@TheAndostro]

i was happy to see Micheal as a driver again cause when he left f1 i was too little to know whats happening

[@fizzy2o11]

Also I'd like to compare how Alonso is currently performing vs Michael in his Merc phase (especially in 2012) . Both in their 40's, both in midfield cars, both having consistent points finishes, both showing moments of brilliance (Michael arguably slightly had the better moments i.e. his pole lap, valencia podium or wet race performances) and both have had bad luck (alonso's 2022 and Schumis 2012 season). So the fact that Michael was being regarded as a finished driver whereas Alonso is still being considered top 5 just shows how high of a standard Michael was being held to. Yes Michael was slower than Rosberg in 2010 and 2011 but we all know how Rosberg held up against Hamilton so Schumachers 2012 pace was no joke and I'd think Rosberg is slightly a tougher teammate than Ocon (who I rate very highly too)

[@d0e322]

It wasn't a failure. Jock Clear (jacques Villeneuve track engineer) who didn't want to work with him at first explain that it was a pleasure to work with him and he was never frustrated, always pointing the team in the right direction. The team was growing with him. You explain well the problem with his driving style. The Mercedes over heat his rear tyres and it was worst with Pirelli tyres. Rosberg explain that Michael sometimes forget to activate the DRS or that it was activate when he arrive in braking zone. The last problem he got was that he had motion sickness in the simulator, so without test session like in his Ferrari days it was clearly a handicap

[@huehuehue7451]

I never really understand the "rotate the car" until I saw 8:26

[@saiyerugara9038]

We will always have that ghost pole lap in Monaco and the podium at Valencia from the middle of the grid.

[@cyntdestroyer69xd]

Imagine if Michael waited just two more years

[@madjayax731]

Schumacher already max-out in 2012. He had no more gear to step up.

[@kijja]

Most likely have been beaten again. He lacked the youthful ignorance. The extra spring in his step was long gone

[@Niikkos]

Don't think F1 cars would have had that wheel-chair access if he waited 'two more years" lol

[@MrOiram46]

@@madjayax731 And even if he did, sooner or later, team politics would’ve had him replaced by a younger driver

[@kevinprengemann7456]

@@madjayax731 ''He max-out in 2012'' says the couch potato / armchair warrior who thinks he can assess Michael Schumacher's performance. Get out of here please...

[@faustinaadu2284]

The sad thing is it that the Mercedes W03 was actually very good. However, Schumi just could not produce

[@piotrgornicki6533]

Mercedes brought Michael to Mercedes for one/two reasons: to properly kickstart the Mercedes factory team and immediately reap the advertisement benefits [for Merc]. He did just that. It's no coincidence Mercedes had two German drivers at the time. But from a sportive perspective it was a failure.

[@dave7573]

Comparing Alonso to anyone is unfair.. It’s a shame Alpine has sabotaged Alonso this year

[@alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

It wasn't quite the comeback that I think he was expecting - I was expecting him to have a very similar experience to Niki Lauda at McLaren, but never the less he got a pole(taken away for a penalty) and a podium. He still had some of the magic of his past.

[@fizzy2o11]

I agree with a lot of this video except the conclusion .. it was not a failed comeback nor did it tarnish his legacy, if anything it enhanced it and showed everyone a different and more human side to Michael. Over his three years there were two things that consistently kept improving. His performance and the performance of the Mercedes car. Had it not been for reliability in 2012 we would have probably had a couple of more podiums and maybe even a win. I still think however his job was to set the team in the right direction and recent history is the proof that his contribution succeeded.. only difference between what he did in his previous teams and merc was that he was too old to reap the fruits of the hard work done in the come up years.

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Such a shame what happened to Michael, he could have continued making contributions to the sport in a backroom or management role. Not to mention, I bet Mick wishes his dad was able to give him tips and work with him.

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

12:45 I really like your stuff and almost never disagree, but Bruno Senna was driving like an idiot lap after lap blocking Michael. He didn't deserve that penalty and he easily would have won Monaco again. I am glad you pointed out his one-handed driving and brake adjusting, almost no one was doing that. The best part of the Monaco lap and his 3 seasons was when Ross came on the radio and said, "What a little star!" If Micheal would have stayed one more year, I would have given him even odds against Nico for the title. If one looked over his entire career, I dare anyone to find anything where Micheal negatively criticized the team, teammates, sponsors, or even tire suppliers. Aldas is right in pointing out how crucial Micheal was in putting Mercedes into winning form.

[@Baloni1]

Random fun fact: Michael Schumacher is the most unsuccessful driver for Mercedes till date. How the times change man

[@SiVlog1989]

I think that part of the reason for it being perceived as a failure is due to the fact that the Press had unrealistic expectations of what he could do. Michael Schumacher was 41 when he returned to F1 in 2010 and hadn't driven an F1 car competitively since 2006, only driving F1 cars occasionally until 2008. What's more, the team he was joining in 2010, Mercedes, wasn't the off the shelf title contender Mercedes expected after purchasing the championship winning Brawn GP outfit. Although Nico Rosberg was able to show what the MGP W01 was capable of on its good days, scoring 2 podiums in the first 4 races (Malaysia and China), Michael didn't get close to the podium all year. Although the pace difference between them closed in 2011, Mercedes slipped further from the ultimate pace and although Rosberg achieved a breakthrough pole and win in China in 2012 and Schumacher set the fastest time in Q3 in Monaco and recorded a podium in Valencia, it was apparent that Mercedes were slipping even further down the order, they were 5th in the Constructors Championship by the end of 2012, sowing the seeds of the Press saying that the man signed on to replace Schumacher from 2013, a certain Lewis Hamilton, had killed his career. Long story short, although on paper it didn't come close to matching his achievements from his first career, Michael Schumacher certainly helped lay the foundations behind the scenes that helped Mercedes propel Lewis Hamilton to win 6 championships in the following 8 years

[@0megalul309]

He still played a part in developing the most dominant team (Merc) beating his achievement with ferrari.

[@SDRaygon]

He was only there to build a championship winning car, and he did, thats not a failure.

[@Sam7my1ed]

Keep fighting Michael! Thank you for racing and helping Mercedes. I remember how humble you were never making demands, always helping. You should have stayed a couple of seasons m8. It was never a failure.

[@Bearcat299]

"At some time, it's good to say goodbye, and this time it might be forever" This part make my eyes very wet to be honest...

[@danielmp2085]

I get to see Schumacher racing for 3 more years in a team full of people who admire him and he gets to do what he loves, for me it was never a failure

[@thegreat0220]

0:13 7 World Championships and that's the bLaCK aNd wHiTE stats Real smooth Aldas, real smooth

[@Braselton21]

Michael's Mercedes Comeback Michael's Wizards Comeback

[@hakkinenfan]

He didn’t come back to improve his resume. He came back because he loved racing. He got to race for three more years in F1 so, in that regard, it was a success for him.

[@filip1408]

He brought in the talent, money and experience to build that team into what it is today. And you call it a failure. I looked passed the takes your channel had on all the cheap f1 drama this year, but this is just insulting his legacy.

[@jimmy41607]

he is still a legend in my heart

[@Wzrd8]

F1 is a young mans game. Watching those years was like watching Jordan on the wizards. He wasn't bad, his body was just incapable of competing with young fast guys. It happens to all drivers who get older. The reaction times start to slip away and it becomes about keeping what you have rather than getting faster.

[@janmichaelcatap5994]

I thought this too wayback then. But when the netflix docu came out, he came back to have fun and develop the team, without the pressure of winning and chasing titles.

[@mich722]

His old neck injury was also still an issue.

[@johngardner529]

even if you hated him even just hearing when he say at some point you have to say good bye just makes me want to cry as you could clearly see that as much as he loved and competed in the sport you could just see how he was starting to get to old for the sport with his age slowly starting to take its toll with the energy and reflex and concentration levels ect slowly starting to get worse and worse hence alot of the reason why he keep on constantly making loads of silly/clumsy mistakes ect towards the end and even he knew it and pretty much admitted it in the end and retired for good but the sad thing is is that sometimes it unfortunately doesnt matter how badly you want something or how hard you try it doesn't always work out the way you want it

[@Goodnewsglobal]

I respected him even more for coming back to help his German team at that age.. he knew full well he wouldn't be winning with Mercedes.. but he sure did build the most successful team of the first part of this century.. he had a very bad motor bike accident that did serious damage.. hardly a lingering neck injury.. great video though.. 👍 He wasn't the same driver though.. but you can't take three years off from F1 in late 30's.. he did great though..

[@lovromedic2822]

In terms of raw speed and hunger Schumi was already on decline in 2006 because he did had a car capable of winning that year ,but he didn’t won..but then again its normal because he was 37 at that time ..Just to see that he scored pole in monaco 43 years of age for me is nuts ..what he demonstrate from 93-04 is unmatched to this day..

[@838Singer]

I was happy ,literally ,because i could watch him racing for 3 more years in F1 , but if you watch some videos of his technique with the Mercedes,it's amazing how he still had it in his 40s!

[@user-jh2ts2eb4q]

Such a failure that a new team then won 7 championships in a row, worst title ever.

[@nicolaswutzmusic]

Great video Aldas!

[@nducation8039]

I remember that he was quite fast still, but lacked focus, was a bit reckless and aggressive, and was also quite unlucky.

[@kben24]

Even though Michael Schumacher’s F1 return wasn’t a success… There’s no other driver I’d wanna see driving for Mercedes during that era.

[@turrican4d599]

10:30 The race would have been wet anough for a win! But instead of having Barcelona 1996 all over again, the stupid stewards redflagged the race for hours till it was not wet enough anymore.

[@kwl189]

Tbh that Monaco pole was truly special and showed that Michael was still Michael. He just didn’t have the tools to do the job at Mercedes and in that car. There’s no doubt in my mind that if Michael bare fruit the work he did with Ross Brawn, Lauda and eventually Wolfe at Mercedes Benz AMG Petronas, he would have dominated the hybrid era. He wasn’t in his physical prime but more than adequate enough to match any driver on the grid. Michael was supreme that lap and found ways to switch his brake bias settings that defy belief. At his age. In that car.

[@AlonsoElNano]

He slowly get used to the car over the years. 2012 was really strong but not being lucky made it look like Rosberg was the better driver that year

[@SilverScarletSpider]

michael schumacher’s mercedes comeback was a failure because mercedes used to be a failure until 2014

[@unfortunately_fortunate2000]

12:10 I do believe that was the roll-bar he was adjusting, every driver was making brake bias adjustments were done on the steering wheel pretty early on in the 2000s, I want to say 02 or 03 but it may have been even earlier because drivers could adjust the tc since it was reintroduced in 01 but, in his famous pole lap that wasn't everyone had the roll-bar settings on their steering wheel except for Schumacher, when he left everyone was still using the same cockpit lever to make their balance changes & supposedly he struggled with doing that on the wheel and asked to go back to the old system. that could just be complete bs, can't remember where I had heard that and I don't have in-depth knowledge of Mercedes car design like that lol. just finished the video and I am so glad someone finally said it: Michael's role at Mercedes was misinterpreted by the fanbase imo, I think he and Brawn knew that he was too old to really come back in and dominate/be a semi regular contender for podiums but his knowledge and experience was crucial for Merc's later success, their 2013 car was their peak in the V8 era and had the Hybrids come in 2015 they likely could have been something of a challenger to RedBull. people overlook his developmental role & that by the tail end of 2011 Mercedes f1 was on course to overtaking McLaren for 2nd best. plus the F1 world knew the hybrid's were coming since 2010, when Nico & Lewis would go on to dominate with a hybrid system that Schumacher aided the development of but people entirely overlook one of the most critical pieces to Mercedes' success, many of them Mercedes fans, it's a bit mind numbing tbh.

[@richardpeachey1103]

Michael new on his return it was not all about the car, Ross Brawn wanted the staff too become a team just as Michael managed to do with Ferrari, Ross pointed out it takes time to build a team from lots of individuals and Michael was good at that, So he was not only a fantastic driver but a good team builder.

[@tompompeus1783]

Love the content mate

[@The_Riddler21]

Michael is an absolute legend 👌❤️✌️

[@erior2180]

He Made Mercedes what they are today, without Michael, Merc wouldn't have been this dominant.

[@mitchfromtheinternet297]

The bike crash just before he came back is the main reason he lost most of his pace, that really damaged his body more than he originally disclosed.

[@ImranShamsul]

That wasn't a comeback, that was a well concealed consultancy/development drive

[@Firashelou]

You did not say "another video in the baaaag" 😂

[@madjayax731]

4:12. Who were nervous among the 2 all new Merc drivers, Nico or Schumacher? Nico knew if he failed to compete with Schumacher his career would be DOOM.

[@gunnermoore4529]

Don't think you can compare schumi and alonso's comback. Alonso never stopped racing. He keept racing full time in other series. Schumacher stopped for 3 year. Any other athlete that takes a break that long will never be as sharp as they ones was especially at that age. Just my opinion

[@AlphaSphere]

Great video!

[@Only-Me-UC]

The real reason Schumacher left was that technology was removed from the car and the driver had to do more of the work not on the tech. Hence failure on comeback.

[@neilashton9244]

Schumachers return to the sport was not a failure. His experience and ability to give valuable feedback helped mercedes to create a platform from which the begun to dominate for the next 7 years after he retired. Let's not kid ourselves michael did a brilliant job for the team even if his on track results don't quite reflect that

[@shinji8662]

Because Nico was much better than everybody expected.

[@crystalracing4794]

On pure results, he lost some speed, but also had reliability issues. The new regs with refuelling bans, move to Pirellis and the v8 Merc engines did not gel with Schu's driving style. The car had a lot of understeer, which suited Rosberg's style and predecessor Button's liking. I will say he clashed with Kimi and there are people believed he played with a role in changing the suspension settings to suit Massa for 2008, whilst Ferrari were chasing Alonso and that sweet Santander money.

[@DankBoyy00]

I have to disagree, I believe there was no better driver to have at Mercedes at the time to develop the team, just like he helped develop Ferrari in 1996, he helped Mercedes, he also helped polish Rosberg into the brilliant driver he was, not just the diamond in the rough that he was at Williams. I'm not gonna say he was at his peak or anything like that but I dont think it was all about the on track performance for him and Mercedes in that time

[@Turbo.RF4]

I honestly wouldn't call it a "failure", its only a failure if you expect schumacher to dominate when he's out of his prime and is now retired. If anything, schumacher, atleast for me, played one of the key roles to make mercedes the team they are today. If its not for schumacher, mercedes would be struggling to find the right balance to make them a championship contending team that they are now today, i don't expect schumacher to still have the magic he had when he's still at ferrari when he came back with mercedes, but what HE DID bring is the mentality that made ferrari competitive again. Now look where ferrari is now.

[@Marcushalberstram749]

Another thing is the tires - Michael never drove the new spec tires, either pirellis or Bridgestones

[@duongallen4094]

My dream is to see Michael returns to the paddock, not as a driver, but as a Ferrari’s Team Principal to lead his son Mick and whoever his teammate could be to a new Ferrari’s glory, it could be a long way away, but Michael and Ferrari has been my childhood heroes who was seen on the face of car magazines at home more times than I could remember

[@emanuell5926]

It will happen, for sure

[@MrFlo5787]

At this point..it would be a blessing if he were healthy enough to just be a special visitor.

[@daackmpoy]

in retrospective I see how his job with Mercedes was more related to the development of the car for the 2014 regulations, specifically for the v6 turbo parallel mgu hybrid that they pushed in negotiations and Nikki lauda admitted began its development around 2007. He did a great job on that! if McLaren hadn't flopped in 2013 probably the plan of German team and German driver championships dominance would have come true. BTW I love how just by the driving style you can identify wich merc in the video is Schumachers.

[@LordWay]

Honestly throughout this period I just wanted him to have a good car as he was my hero growing up