Haug: Schumacher deserves reliability

Mercedes’ Norbert Haug has admitted that his team must improve it’s track record on reliability and that Michael Schumacher, who has had four mechanical failures in seven races “deserves good results”.

Schumacher’s season began with mechanical problems in Melbourne, where he had a gearbox failure after 10 laps and then continued in China where a wheel problem at a pitstop forced him to retire. Inn Monaco he was sidelined by a fuel pressure problem and then in Montreal two weeks ago his DRS malfunctioned, leaving the rear wing stuck open causing another race retirement.

And yesterday Haug admitted the team needed to redress the balance.

“This is not our plan and we are not satisfied with these results for sure,” he said. “I really feel sorry for Michael. This should not be the case, these are not our standards; the team can do a better job. But we need to have a calm and concentrated approach. It happens in Formula One [when] you’re pushing and on the limit. But still, it is not our plan to be like that. We will fix it. A lot of people are working in a concentrated and focused manner.”

The Mercedes boss, however, had nothing but praise for Schumacher’s conduct in the face of the racing adversity.

“Michael is a perfect team player and I would have every understanding if he would be critical, but he never is outside the team. He fully supports the team and we support him. I think he is an example for each and every driver. His behaviour is just first class and so authentic. I rate that very, very highly.

“Going through thick and thin he could complain and say ‘I should have as many points as Nico’ or stuff like that, but you never hear that,” he added. “He’s a professional and he deserves good results. I hope they will come sooner rather than later. We need to give him a fully competitive and fully reliable car and we’re working hard to achieve that.”