Schumacher: Mercedes’ passion matches my own

If ever a world championship-winning team needed a shot in the arm ahead of a new season, then signing a seven-time title holder would be a sure fire way to get motivation levels soaring. And it seems at the newly-renamed Mercedes team, Michael Schumacher’s arrival has had such effect, with the German himself left thoroughly impressed by the squad’s enthusiasm during a recent visit to their UK factory.

"I have been in the factory in Brackley now for two days and have spent the time getting to know the engineers and the structures a bit better, and I am extremely positively surprised about how motivated everybody was,” the 41 year-old told his official website. “They are world champions but they don’t seem to be spoilt by the success at all; they seem to be hungry for more instead!”

Schumacher was unveiled as the former Brawn team’s lead driver, alongside fellow German Nico Rosberg, just before Christmas at their Brackley base. But after his brief trip to the factory, he was keen to return as soon as possible in the New Year to get his pre-season preparations truly underway.

“It is important for me to be informed about everything and it was very interesting to get to know the engineers and their structures and the way they work,” he continued. “I was there already around the time of the signature of the contract and learned a lot, now I have seen much more about the team.”

As part of his pre-2010 groundwork Schumacher also visited Mercedes’ UK engine base at Brixworth, and having driven for British-based team Benetton and Italian squad Ferrari during his career, Schumacher was pleased to hear a fair few German voices as he made his tour around the carmaker’s facilities.

“I also was in the Mercedes-factory in Brixworth and I have to say that I am very impressed about the high level you see there,” he concluded. “In Brixworth the people seem to be highly motivated as well and I find that encouraging, as it perfectly fits my personal mood. What I also liked was that you hear a lot of people speaking German there. That is nice for once, I am not so much used to that at my work, and I find it quite convenient."

Schumacher is expected to make several more visits to both Brackley and Brixworth over the coming weeks, before the pre-season test schedule gets underway in Spain in February.