David Schumacher is experiencing a real culture shock this year: Because not only are the GT3 cars of the DTM to be driven completely differently than the Formula 3 cars, but also the human handling is as different as day and night. In single-seater racing, there are “the biggest battles between teammates,” says Ralf Schumacher’s 20-year-old son in an interview with “Motorsport-Total.com”.
“Basically, you don’t talk to each other. My father said to me: ‘In single-seater racing there are no friends, only enemies.’ It’s a completely different approach here. Sure, in the end we’re still competitors because we race against each other, but it’s much more open than in single-seater racing.”
In the Winward team, Schumacher, who is racing in a car with a roof for the first time this year, drives with Lucas Auer and reigning champion Maximilian Götz alongside two very experienced teammates. “I keep asking them for advice – and they usually help me too,” he says.
Schumacher reveals that 36-year-old Götz is more willing to provide information than 27-year-old Auer. “He’s already in a later phase of his career and is a bit more open. Luggi, on the other hand, is still a young savage.” In addition, the two differ in personality: Auer is “very nice, but he’s a quiet guy. Sometimes he warms up – and then we have fun.”
“I’ve made a lot of progress compared to my Paul Ricard test”
But in which area does Schumacher need the most support after the first half of the season? “I’ve made a lot of progress compared to my Paul Ricard test,” says Schumacher, but admits that there are “still curves” that I don’t yet understand in the car – for example the ones with hard braking points”.
The ABS system continues to cause him headaches: “Because with ABS, the technology reduces your speed. The brake pedal moves and the pressure changes. It goes up and down sometimes – and that’s a bit confusing for me, because I had not in single-seater racing. I really have to work on that.”
Schumacher benefits not only from the advice of his Winward teammates, but also from Mercedes-AMG’s so-called one-team approach. As a result, the data of all vehicles is disclosed after each session, and the manufacturer also uploads onboard videos to the server, which can then be viewed by all teams and drivers. With the aim of improving the manufacturer’s internal power density.
A system that, according to Schumacher, “definitely” works. “We have eight Mercedes cars and we always get the data from everyone. Especially for me as a young driver, it’s a big advantage that I can look at eight different cars. I can superimpose the data and see where the others are better are, what they do, what driving style they have.”
Schumacher is used to something different from Formula 3
In this regard, too, he is used to something different from Formula 3. “I remember last year when Prema was sometimes half a second faster than us. And we just sat there with the corners of our mouths turned down – and we asked ourselves: How is that possible?” The former Trident pilot recalls .
“It would have been nice to have this option. Here you simply open the data – and then you can see, for example, the data from Maro Engel and you can look at it. AMG is doing a very good job there,” thanks Schumacher, who has been since Has junior status at Mercedes-AMG at the beginning of the year, at the manufacturer.
It is a disadvantage that DTM tire partner Michelin is currently not delivering any tires for tests due to the tire shortage – and therefore there are no test opportunities during the summer break either.
“It’s maybe a bigger disadvantage for me than for the experienced guys,” he says. “They know exactly what to do with these cars, get in, drive one or two laps – and it fits. I have yet to get to that point.”