As a short reminder, Schumacher finished the 2010 season as the 9th best driver of the pack, scoring 70 points less than his much younger teammate Nico Rosberg. In the process, he failed to score a single podium or pole position, while also recording his worst F1 finish in career, P15, in the European Grand Prix (Valencia).
While criticized by many, the one man who tried to explain Schu's struggles in 2010 (some were actually caused by an underperforming car) was triple world champion Niki Lauda, himself an F1 returnee in his past career.
“In my second phase in F1, the testing was not limited so I had plenty of mileage to prepare. Michael has had trouble adjusting. Furthermore, he has been against a lot of young guys eager to prove they can beat him, including Rosberg who is really fast,” said Lauda in a recent interview with Spain's El Pais newspaper.
“2010 was a year of practice for him (Schumacher). At first I thought he would not take more than four races to be back, and winning races has never been easy, but now it is harder than ever before. Anyway, if anyone can do what he has to do, it's him,” added the Austrian.
Asked a while back about his personal prospects for the 2011 season, Schumacher insisted the world title will continue to be out of reach for him or his Mercedes GP team, but revealed his goal for the campaign is to win a race and score constant podiums.
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