Michael Schumacher’s former Mercedes race engineer Jock Clear says there were two sides to the seven-time world champion during his time in Formula 1. Clear currently coaches Charles Leclerc at Ferrari but worked with the German during his final seasons in the sport after coming back from retirement.
Schumacher returned to F1 after a three-year break but did not enjoy the same success as before. He led for just three laps and failed to add to his then-record 91 race wins.
However, the German did make the podium once more, for the 155th time. Clear recalls what it was like working with Schumacher.
The performance engineer spoke to Betpack about his experiences, saying of the legendary racing driver: “His way of dealing with people… it’s not as simple as just being, ‘he was such a nice guy’.
“There were things about Michael that weren’t very nice. There were times when he could be not a very nice guy.
“He had a very edgy side to his character when he wanted to, and we saw that in the cockpit a few times. But he had a very engaging character, where when he wanted to get people on side, he knew how to do it.”
View 2 ImagesJock Clear and Michael Schumacher worked together at Mercedes
Clear recalls using Schumacher as an example to follow for his Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg. He said: “When I engineered Nico Rosberg in 2010, Michael was on the other side of the garage.
“Nico and Michael were very different. Nico was offered a place at Imperial (College London) to do engineering, so he had a very good engineering background.
“There were lots of places where Michael was quicker than Nico. And Nico would look at the data with me, and he’d say, ‘What’s Michael doing here? What’s he doing here? Why?’ And there were times when I felt like saying to Nico, ‘close the laptop and just sit and look at the man.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV packageThis article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
£44SkyGet the deal here
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of Formula 1.
Sky broadcasts every practice, qualifier and race throughout the season, as well as exclusive coverage of the Premier League, EFL, darts and golf.
“‘Listen to him and listen to how he talks to people, and watch him, watch his body language.’ I said to Nico that ‘what you’re not getting is how well Michael engaged with people and how well everybody wanted to be on Michael’s car.
Article continues below
“Everybody wanted Michael to win. Everybody wanted Michael to be their best mate. He just engendered that sort of support, naturally.
“There was nothing forced about it. He wasn’t calculated about it; he was just a very engaging character, and in a very competitive environment, that’s the kind of thing that makes a difference.”
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page