Michael Schumacher is undoubtedly one of the greatest racing drivers of all time, only statistically rivalled by Lewis Hamilton, with whom he shares the record of seven world championships.
The German proved almost unbeatable during his time in Formula 1, winning titles with both Benetton and Ferrari before bowing out of the sport with Mercedes.
Pat Symonds boasts an impressive CV in Formula 1, having worked with Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Ayrton Senna before making the move to become the sport’s Chief Technical Officer.
The Brit worked with Schumacher as his race engineer during his time with Benetton, where he won his first two world championships.
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Symonds has now made a bizarre claim about his time working with the legendary German, suggesting that he would make his car unstable on purpose, as per Schumacher’s request.
“Michael, he liked a very unstable car,” said the F1 chief.
“It may make the car very quick, but you need to be a damn good driver to drive this. We used to set his car up in quite an unstable manner, and his teammates often struggled with that, because of the way it was.”
Car setups can be crucial to success in Formula 1, which Lewis Hamilton found out last season as he sacrificed a number of races so Mercedes could get creative with his setup in a bid to solve their poor performance issues with the W13.
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Schumacher’s strange car demands may have been one of the factors that put him above the rest and could maybe be something that his son Mick will learn about in his upcoming spell with Mercedes.
The 23-year-old was released from Haas at the end of last season and has now been taken under the wing of Mercedes, who have a strong history and relationship with the Schumacher family.
The youngster will no doubt be told all about his father’s time with the Silver Arrows and will be hoping to learn from some of the best in the business, as the attempts to earn himself a spot back on the grid after some impressive performances with Haas in the past.