Mercedes-Benz and Michael Schumacher announce extended partnership

[Giannis]

Mercedes-Benz and Michael Schumacher announced yesterday a long-term partnership that will cover other fields of activity, extending beyond F1 and motorsport. Michael Schumacher will become more involved with the development of the "Intelligent Drive" family of safety and comfort systems and will represent them as an ambassador, supporting the brand's involvement in the road safety field.

“The future interests me much more than the present and past. During my Formula 1 time I always believed that you must not allow yourself to rest on your laurels, but that you must continuously try to improve. In so doing I was very often able to rely on the help of all the technologies available to me in the car and use them to my advantage. That is why I am a declared supporter of driving assistance systems both in the racing car and in the road-going car” said the 7 times F1 World Champion who will be making his first appearance as a partner of Mercedes-Benz together with Dr. Dieter Zetsche on 1 May 2013 at ‚Handelsblatt PATHFINDER – The future starts today.

Source: [Mercedes-Benz]

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[Mr. Mercedes]

Interesting. Does Schu have an engineering background at all?

 

[Giannis]

Does Schu have an engineering background at all?

I don't think any of those "brand ambassadors" has any proper engineering backround. They have some history with the brand and great PR skills, so they are great for ambassadors. If they had the required engineering skills they would be employed as engineers.

 

[Wolfgang]

Also likes developing road cars which might help.

All these details add up, but if you’re looking for the technology that helps the Scuderia nail the same lap time as the Enzo despite a 150bhp shortfall, it’s the chassis. Specifically, it’s the combined effect of the Scuderia’s E-diff, its electronically controlled locking differential, and F1-Trac, the advanced stability control developed originally for the 599 GTB. Working together, they maximise the drive the 430 Scuderia finds out of corners and enhance stability going into them, too. Michael Schumacher is said to have been instrumental in the development of this system.
http://www.evo.co.uk/trackdays/trackdaycars/234178/ferrari_430_scuderia.html

According to Mercedes AMG Formula 1 team principal Ross Brawn, the seven time World Champion will be involved in the advance of road performance cars. "The development of models, particularly high-performance cars, is something he enjoys very much," Ross Brawn said to Autocar.
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/schumacher-to-help-develop-mercedes-road-cars-54932.html