Mercedes confirms ‘simulator sickness’ for Schumacher

‘Simulator sickness’ does not explain Michael Schumacher’s disappointing return to F1 alongside Nico Rosberg in 2010.

That was the gist of a statement issued by Mercedes following reports this week that the seven time world champion did not work in the team’s Brackley simulator last year due to motion sickness.

A source had told Dutch website f1today.nl that while Rosberg’s setup work was “largely done” by the time he got to a grand prix, “Michael begins with a basic setting” because of his inability to work effectively in the simulator.

But Mercedes clarified in a statement that the reports were wrong to say Schumacher, 42, has only been suffering from motion sickness since returning to F1 after an initial career spanning 91 wins.

“Throughout his career, Michael from time to time has been susceptible to simulator sickness which has affected the length of time that he can spend on a simulator,” said the German team.

“Michael has not been disadvantaged as together with his engineers he has made his simulation work effective,” added Mercedes.

However, the statement did say Schumacher’s problem with simulators was “exacerbated” in 2010 because Mercedes’ technology is not yet up to scratch with some of its rivals.

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