Tuesday 9 April 2013

Senna vs Schumacher (1991-1994)

Pat Symonds in a recent article for Autosport -

"I thoroughly enjoyed working with Michael over the years. His attention to detail and his attitude were something I had never seen before, even though I'd been Ayrton Senna's race engineer, when he drove for Toleman in 1984.

"Michael was different. He had the same raw natural talent as Ayrton, but whether he had more or less of it is impossible to tell and is something that will be argued about for as long as people talk about motor racing. What was different was his total focus on every detail."

Lets look at the four years arguably the two greatest Formula One drivers of all time were on the track at the same time. As their cars where not equal, a cross reference to how their teammates fared against each other is included.

Senna and Schumacher's team mates where obviously not equal either but they were much more so than the cars they raced. A few exceptions were particularly in 1993 when Senna had a really weak teammate in Michael Andretti and then a really strong one in Mika Hakkinen. Andretti is too weak for a valid comparison with Schumacher's teammate that year(Riccardo Patrese) and Hakkinen is too strong.

Regardless of it not being an exact science - calculated below is the average qualifying lap time in a cross reference scenario as if Senna and Schumacher's teammates were of equal ability. For further comparison you can then research the duo's teammates at manipef1.com/stats/drivercomparison/ to cross reference how they fared against each other and thus see how valid the Senna vs Schumacher comparisons are.

Red were Senna was faster in the teammate cross reference and blue were Schumacher was faster.


1991 Season (Schumacher made his debut at the Belgian Grand Prix in August)

Ayrton Senna(35pts) vs Michael Schumacher(4pts) 

Qualifying
1.8 vs 7.2 (average qualifying position)
6 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
2.082s (average lap-time Senna was faster by)

Race
2.2 vs 5.7 (average finishing position)
3 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)


Senna teammate(Gerhard Berger - 6pts) vs Schumacher teammate(Andrea de Cesaris - 0pts)

Qualifying
4 vs 11 (average qualifying position)
1 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
2.501s (average lap-time Senna's teammate was faster by)

Race
2 vs n/a (average finishing position)
0 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)

If Gerhard Berger and Andrea de Cesaris were of equal speed over a qualifying lap -
2.501-2.114 = Schumacher was faster than Senna by 0.419s



Senna teammate(Gerhard Berger - 15pts) vs Schumacher teammate(Nelson Piquet - 4.5 pts)

Qualifying
1.8 vs 8.8 (average qualifying position)
3 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
2.114s (average lap-time Senna's teammate was faster by)

Race
2.7 vs 6.6 (average finishing position)
5 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)

If Gerhard Berger and Nelson Piquet were of equal speed over a qualifying lap -
2.114-2.082 = Senna was faster than Schumacher by 0.032s



1992 Season

Ayrton Senna(50pts) vs Michael Schumacher(53pts)

Qualifying
2.8 vs 4.7 (average qualifying position)
14 vs 2 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.750s (average lap-time Senna was faster by)

Race
3.1 vs 3.2 (average finishing position)
5 vs 1 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)


Senna teammate(Gerhard Berger - 49pts) vs Schumacher teammate(Martin Brundle - 38pts)

Qualifying
4.6 vs 7.4 (average qualifying position)
14 vs 2 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
1.036s (average lap-time Senna's teammate was faster by)

Race
3.1 vs 3.6 (average finishing position)
4 vs 2 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)

If Gerhard Berger and Martin Brundle were of equal speed over a qualifying lap -
1.036-0.750 = Schumacher was faster than Senna by 0.286s



1993 Season

Ayrton Senna(73pts) vs Michael Schumacher(52pts) 

Qualifying
3.8 vs 3.8 (average qualifying position)
8 vs 8 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.008s (average lap-time Schumacher was faster by)

Race
3.7 vs 2.2 (average finishing position)
2 vs 3 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed race)


Senna teammate(Michael Andretti - 7pts) vs Schumacher teammate(Riccardo Patrese - 38pts)

Qualifying
9.8 vs 7.4 (average qualifying position)
4 vs 9 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.468s (average lap-time Schumacher's teammate was faster by)

Race
7.3 vs 5.0 (average finishing position)
2 vs 2 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)

If Michael Andretti and Riccardo Patrese were of equal speed over a qualifying lap -
0.468-0.008 = Senna was faster than Schumacher by 0.460s



Senna teammate(Mika Hakkinen - 4pts) vs Schumacher teammate(Ricardo Patrese - 0pts)

Qualifying
3.7 vs 8.7 (average qualifying position)
3 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
1.785s (average lap-time Senna's teammate was faster by)

Race
n/a vs 12 (average finishing position)
0 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)

If Mika Hakkinen and Riccardo Patrese were of equal speed over a qualifying lap -
1.785 + 0.008 = Schumacher was faster than Senna by 1.793s



1994 Season

Ayrton Senna(0pts) vs Michael Schumacher(30pts) 

Qualifying
1 vs 2 (average qualifying position)
3 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.296s (average lap-time Senna was faster by)

Race
n/a vs 1 (average finishing position)
0 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)


Senna teammate(Damon Hill - 6pts) vs Schumacher teammate(Jos Verstappen - 0pts)

Qualifying
3.5 vs 9.5 (average qualifying position)
2 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
1.206s (average lap-time Senna's teammate was faster by)

Race
2 vs n/a (average finishing position)
0 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)

If Damon Hill and Jos Verstappen were of equal speed over a qualifying lap -
1.206-0.296 = Schumacher was faster than Senna by 0.910s



Senna teammate(Damon Hill - 1pt) vs Schumacher teammate(JJ Lehto - 0pts)

Qualifying
4 vs 5 (average qualifying position)
1 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.549s (average lap-time Senna's teammate was faster by)

Race
6 vs n/a (average finishing position)
0 vs 0 (driver finishing above other where both cars completed race)
 
If Damon Hill and JJ Lehto were of equal speed over a qualifying lap -
0.549-0.296 = Schumacher was faster than Senna by 0.253s




More Michael Schumacher articles -

 
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