Sebastian Vettel has admitted he misses the opportunity to seek advice from Michael Schumacher “on many things” in his Formula 1 career.
The German legend was strongly involved with the sport even after his initial retirement in 2006, supporting Ferrari in an advisory role before returning as a race driver with Mercedes in 2010.
Racing until the end of 2012, there would only be one year between that and his skiing accident in December 2013 that left him with severe head injuries which he continues to recover from to this day.
As Vettel looks to follow in his hero’s footsteps of winning world championships with the Scuderia, but potentially set to fall short for a second straight year, he concedes the guidance of the seven-time champion would have been welcome.
“If he was healthy, I would ask him about many things,” he told Sport Bild.
“Not necessarily how to drive, but more things that are behind the scenes. Teamwork, F1 politics. He has a lot of experience from his time with Ferrari.”
One of Schumacher’s main rivals during his career, double world champion Mika Hakkinen, responded to Vettel’s admission and knows exactly how useful Michael would have been.
“I can understand why,” the Finn said in his regular Unibet column.
“Working very closely with the management and senior technical staff, Michael knew how to help get the most out of the Ferrari team and it looks like Vettel has lost some faith in the team to provide him with the necessary support.”
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Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone agreed, believing errors such as on strategy in Singapore would have never happened in Schumacher’s heyday.
“Everything is already decided, Hamilton is world champion,” he declared to Blick newspaper.
“Unfortunately Ferrari messed it up in Monza and Singapore with the strategy. That would have never happened at Ferrari with Schumacher.”