Schumacher is, arguably, the only example of a F1 driver in history, who was present during three very distinct eras of racing cars. At the beginning of his career, he had to race cars with no electronic aids, manual gearboxes and fat slicks, which gave emphasis to the physical aspect of driving a car as much as they did to the technical one. F1 then gradually moved towards grooved tyres and paddle shifts, with the emphasis being switched to the aero development. The cars started to become much better designed and engineered - I would say that the 1998 generation of cars marked a significant departure from the past, both in terms of performance but also of handling characteristics of the cars. However, it was 2001 when even bigger changes started to become implemented, with the adoption of TC (from the Barcelona GP onwards) and later on with all sorts of electronics controling not only the operation of the vehicle but also its handling, such as stability control, differential mapping, engine braking assistance, etc... The apotheosis of these cars was the 2006 crop, just before Michelin left the sport (in 07) and the tyre race stopped. The speeds that the 2006 cars could carry into the corners were silly.
You will find that as the years progressed, the role of the driver became less and less important. Schumacher was never outqualified by a team-mate (at a time when low fuel quali was used, so direct comparisons were allowed) from 1992 to 1995 (Belgian GP). That's almost 4 full seasons. Even in 1995, at the Belgian GP, he was caught out by the rain, with Herbert already having set a time in the dry. Order was restored at the next race and he remained unbeaten until the end of the season. Back then, Schumacher would outqualify his team-mates to (sometimes) the rate of 1.5 - 2.0 seconds per lap on average, during the entire season. When he moved to Ferrari, his dominance continued, albeit with lesser margins (his advantage over Irvine was around 0.7 - 0.8 seconds on average). When he was teamed up with Barrichello, at first he completely destroyed him (2000) season, but as the cars became more and more electronically controled, his huge advantages begun to diminish, although he always comfortably had the upper hand. Funnily enough, he enjoyed a 0.6 seconds advantage on average over Massa in 2006 (his final year), which is difficult to fathom since the cars were so easy to drive at the limit and he was already 38 years old, tired and less motivated. That kind of margin was seriously big, by any yardstick, in modern F1.
Tales of Schumacher's epic drives (especially in the 90s) abound, and those who have been lucky enough to watch some of them will know what I am talking about. In Monaco 1997 (wet, no traction control, etc) he built a 6 secs gap to 2nd in the first lap, then 12 secs in the 2nd lap and 18 secs in the 3rd lap. At Spa 1998, his best lap time was some 8 seconds better than the McLarens and he was about to lap Coulthard at approximately the mid point of the race when that famous accident happened. At Barcelona 94 he did the entire (almost) race stuck in 5th gear (6 speed gearboxes), including 2 pit stops, and finished 2nd. Etc, etc, etc... But as the years rolled by, the cars became more and more driver-friendly, and other drivers were able to rely on all the electronic aids and fantastic engineering to bring the gap down to non-humiliating levels.
What has always fascinated me is that Schumacher has been mighty during this entire period, which spanned 17 years. He pushed the boundaries of what is possible in a F1 car throughout his entire career which, as I said, can be broken down in 3 parts: 91 - 97, 98 - 01, 02 - 06. He has been a driver who performed at the highest level in all sorts of machinery. He could cope with the physical demands of the early 90s cars and he could also understand the complex electronics and engineering of a 2006 machine.
A big part of that success was, of course, due to his mental abilities and his analytical skills, his methodical and tireless dedication and his unparalleled drive to compete and succeed. But an equally large chunk of this success was due to his ability to adapt in different cars, different regulations and different conditions. You don't have to examine his entire career to see that - just watch any race with changeable conditions and you will know what I am talking about. Whenever the level of grips started to change and a change in driving style was called for, Schumacher would always be the first to adapt, finding grip where others couldn't even think of.
As you understand, it's a much more complex thing that oversteer, understeer, or whatever. It's not productive to think in those terms, because that's an over simplification of things and it leads to wrong conclusions. Schumacher was always trying to optimize the performance (his own and his car's) through exhaustive analysis of the tiniest details, where most other drivers were simply trying to drive as fast as possible.
Going back to the Barcelona 94, for example, Schumacher had to do the entire race in 5th gear, which means he was hitting the limiter at the straights and was slow out of the corners. To compensate he had to drive the way a heavy sportscar should be driven, i.e. carry as much speed into the corner and adopt wider lines which increased the travelled distance but also the speed you could carry in and out of the corner. It took him about 2 laps to settle into a rhythm and his best laps (after the gearbox was stuck) were comperable to the best laps of the rest of the field. The scary bit was that no one had realized it, and when he mentioned it at the press conference it was met with general incredulity. The Benetton team had to disclose the telemetry to convince the press...
That's why I believe this whole oversteer - understeer is a pointless exercise. Schumi was good in utilizing both, whenever the situation called for it, and went way beyond that. So, yes, as the years changed and the handling characteristics of the cars changed (dramatically so), so did his "style" change to best take advantage of them. But, going back to my earlier posts, the geometry of his driving - his "understanding" of how the car needs to be positioned at all times in a corner, has not changed, because that's something that comes naturally and instinctively.
Anyway, I think I went off into a bit of jabbering here, and I don't know if I went close to answering your question or not. If I didn't, blame it on the over excitement!"
"@ Clean air: Nothing as drastic as that.
People have been going on about understeer / oversteer because that's the only thing they can compute. You shouldn't expect Schumacher or anybody from the Mercedes camp to tell you exactly what was going on, and you definitely shouldn't expect the "experts" to analyze his problems, because they can't.
The truth is, as always, a bit more complex than that.
Assuming that in China he did suffer from a rogue chassis, or a damaged one, his problems were not in the corner entries (i.e. understeer, or oversteer), but in corner exits, i.e. traction. But before China he was catching up and, at least in Australia, he was matching Rosberg in terms of outright pace. In fact, he was faster than Rosberg but this didn't translate into a result because in quali he was balked and then in the race he got his wing taken off by Button.
But he's not yet at his absolute best, and this has to do with the way the car feels. His main "problem" that he has to overcome is three-fold.
Part A of the problem: For 11 years he raced with Ferrari and that was his only viable reference point. Any driver that spends so long with a team builds a comfort zone inside which he operates. Schumi was at his absolute best up until 2002, because he was pushing the envelope of performance and he was maximizing every single parameter at his disposal. After that, he was still winning races and championships, but he was doing that inside this comfort zone. The car was gradually tuned to his unique preferences. The entire team was working for him, so much so that he found the energy and drive to nurture Massa's talent and mentor him as a possible replacement. Now, he's having to learn how to operate in a completely different environment. A 1996 MS or a 2002 MS would have been right on the money from the word go. But a 2010 MS, who has been driving for one team over 11 years and has been out of the sport for 3 years needs an adaptation period. He needs to forget what he has learnt at Ferrari, basically.
Part B of the problem: This brings us nicely to Part B, which is that he's too analytical. His main drive has always been (and always will be) to develop the car and maximize the feedback that he's giving to the engineers. He gets immense pleasure from developping the car and working with new technologies and solutions. This is what he did during winter testing, when instead he and the team should have been focusing in maximizing his feel for the car, i.e. his own potential. I was honestly stunned to see them not testing in rainy days - I thought this was a glorious opportunity to bring MS back up to speed, but they missed that.
Part C of the problem: He's been out of it for far too long. 3 years is a long time to be away. You have seen drivers like Badoer, who were still testing for the team, get a race seat and be 2 seconds of the pace. You have seen great drivers, like Fisichella, switching teams (from FI to Ferrari) and being hopelessly slow. You have seen young chargers with GP2 wins get into F1 and get destroyed in the process (Piquet, Grosjean, etc). It's the nature of the beast.
Schumacher though, although he's 41 years old, although he's been our of the sport for 3 years (and in the meantime the regs have changed so dramatically - no TC, no downshifting management, slick tyres, narrow front tyres, less downforce, no refuelling, etc) has done a stunning job of adapting to all that, including a new team! If anything, he has taken the fight to Rosberg who is indeed a stellar young driver, and he has held his corner magnificently, with the exception of China which is probably a one-off. Personally, I am stunned with his performances, especially today.
So, all in all, don't buy into over-simplified arguments of oversteer / understeer, etc. Yes, the updates seem to work for him, but he was faster than Rosberg in Australia as well, although it didn't show. Michael is a very shrewd operator, and I know what he's telling the team right now in the debrief: forget 2010 guys, let's focus on 11. He will be his usual glorious self in Monaco, but don't expect anything other than gritty, determined performances like today's when he punched above the car's potential finishing ahead of a Ferrari and a McLaren. If that's not adapting to new environments, I don't know what is...