James Vowles shares insights on Michael Schumacher’s influential role during his Formula 1 comeback with Mercedes, highlighting his leadership and the profound impact he had on the team and Nico Rosberg.
Vowles was with Mercedes F1 when Michael Schumacher made his Formula 1 comeback. Although he didn’t work with the German at the peak of his career, he witnessed Schumacher’s leadership qualities and wished he could have secured a victory for him.
“There are very few traits that make a world champion. Michael taught Nico to work incredibly hard,” Vowles recalls. “Michael wasn’t the most skillful in the car, Lewis was, but he knew how to extract every millisecond from himself and every thousandth of a second from the car.”
“He was a leader who, if he said ‘I’m going in this direction’, the team would follow. To the extent that both sides of the garage wanted him to succeed. One of my career regrets is that we didn’t achieve a victory for him, it still hurts today. He deserved a win.”
Vowles has fond memories of working with Schumacher: “I went motorbiking with him on tracks. We went to Paul Ricard and had a blast, laughing about it for years afterward.”
“He knew my partner’s birthday and sent her flowers, which moved me because I didn’t do as much. But he was genuinely interested in who you are, your family, and what drives you. And that’s hard to do. He didn’t do it for an advantage, he did it because he cared about you.”
“The Michael seen in the media was very different from the Michael behind the scenes, and that’s how he succeeded. He took everyone on the journey, worked as late as needed, as many hours as necessary, that’s how he operated.”
“Nico learned a great deal from him, and that’s how he shaped the Nico who eventually won the world championship. He learned a lot from him, and it shaped the Nico who went on to win the championship.”
Schumacher’s Leadership Techniques for F1 Victory. Schumacher’s Leadership Techniques for F1 Victory
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