54 replies to this topic

[travbrad]

If I don't practice playing my guitar for a few months I feel very rusty.  After a few years I'd almost be starting from scratch.  As they say "practice makes perfect".  It doesn't surprise me at all that drivers struggle with comebacks after long breaks like that, especially if they aren't driving similar cars on a regular basis during their break.  They still have the basic skills and knowledge of how to drive fast, but it takes a lot of practice to get that last little bit out of the car and themselves, and that last little bit is what counts in F1.

 

Usually a driver is older than the average driver during a "comeback" too and age catches up with everyone eventually, and age also makes it harder to adapt and learn new things.

Edited by travbrad, 18 December 2015 - 15:31.

[Schumacher7]

Because, for it to be a comeback, you have to be behind in the first place.

Lolwut, no, to come back you just need to have left...

 

English, its easy, innit.

[lamo]

The thing is, nearly all of those drivers were passed it before they came back... Prost started to slow down before he was ever paired with Senna.

 

How about Schumacher in 1999? He was out for 3 and a bit months and came back for the last 2 races, but he was going to sit out the entire rest of year and miss a total of 6/7 months, I'm certain he would have lost no speed.

 

In the above examples their ages were;

Prost 38

Mansell 40

Hakkinen 39

Schumacher 41

 

Those that did OK,

Lauda 33

Raikkonen 33

[Dmitriy_Guller]

Yes, I think it has primarily to do with the driver's natural rise and decline in performance.  Typically, once a driver starts declining, he can still coast by on momentum and experience for a number of seasons afterwards.  Sometimes it may even be hard to notice, if the car is dominant and the driver is still winning championships (like Schumacher in his latter Ferrari years).  But if you stop during the decline, then you just arrest all that momentum, and you can't get going again.

[Kalmake]

I think Schumacher was an OK+. Rosberg is very quick.

 

Very limited testing these days makes comebacks harder. It's much easier to get back in the saddle if you can test all winter.