Former designer explains Schumacher's 'failure' in his time at Mercedes

John Barnard made fame in Formula 1 with the carbon chassis at McLaren and the semi-automatic gearbox at Ferrari. He also worked with Michael Schumacher, about whom he has a special story.

Confidence in Ferrari

In 1995 Schumacher stepped into a Ferrari for the first time for a test. The German had just won two world titles with Benneton and decided to make the step to Ferrari. The Tifosi hadn't been able to celebrate a world title for years and the great talent of Formula 1 had to bring salvation. However, in '95 the car turned out to be better than expected.

''After that test Michael stepped out of the car and immediately indicated that he had easily become champion with this car. Of course you never know if it was meant to motivate, but at least for me it felt like a compliment'', says Barnard who had only seen his cars win once that year in the hands of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger.

Schumacher also gets less

For Schumacher, however, it turned out to be no easy task, because it was only in 2000 that Michael won his first world title with Ferrari. Four more titles followed, to stop after 2006. Schumacher later returned to Mercedes, but that was never a success. Barnard thinks he knows why, although he can't prove it.

''In my opinion, Nico Rosberg wanted a stable rear to avoid understeer, but Schumacher didn't think so. Later he got a car more to his liking, but he wasn't any faster than Nico. Michaels driving style was good when he was young, but the older he got the less responsiveness he had'', Barnard concludes at Beyond the Grid.