Haug: Schumacher has laid the foundation for Mercedes’ future success

15 years ago, in the winter of 2009, events took place in Formula 1 that largely influenced the next stage of the history of the world championship, and they started with the fact that the new Brawn GP team, founded on the basis of the Honda factory team, won the world championship in both competitions.

Then, in the fall of 2009, its assets were acquired by the Mercedes-Benz Concert, and then the next sensation occurred: at the end of the year it was announced that Michael Schumacher, a seven-time world champion who retired from the Formula 1 was supposed to drive for the Stuttgart group team in 2006, but decided to get behind the wheel of a racing car again.

Many believe that Michael should not have done this, as he did not achieve much success over the next three seasons and only appeared on stage once during all that time. However, Norbert Haug, who was in charge of Mercedes’ racing programs at the time, disagrees.

“Many people said at the time that Michael Schumacher was no longer the same, although he certainly remained the same,” Haug said in an interview with RTL television. “But the fact is that our car was already a bit outdated at the time and was not competitive enough. However, he made a very important contribution to our project. In the period 2010 to 2012, thanks to him, the foundation was laid for Mercedes’ future successes.”

Haug recalled that Schumacher showed the best time according to qualifying results in Monaco in May 2012, and if he had not received the penalty, which caused him to lose several starting positions, he could very well have won that race.

“Whoever was able to take pole position in that car of ours certainly did not lose the ability to drive fast,” added the former head of Mercedes Motorsport. “Moreover, Michael was a talented manager. On the track he distinguished himself by his filigree driving technique, and off the track he could be a very witty and cheerful guy.”