Why Michael Schumacher was once left ‘very much annoyed’ during his final Spanish Grand Prix in Formula 1

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Michael Schumacher’s final season in Formula 1 was one of his most frustrating ones with Mercedes in 2012.

Although the Silver Arrows weren’t quite where they would go on to be back then, they still had a car capable of fighting for points and podiums on the odd occasion.

Schumacher was teamed up with future world champion Nico Rosberg, and within three races they had already achieved a victory that year.

The Mercedes operation was on its way to becoming a top-tier one, but they were waiting for the next set of regulations to become a powerhouse, nailing the V6 power unit.

Sadly, Mercedes ‘misunderstood’ Schumacher after his F1 comeback and their car never quite suited his driving style.

That didn’t mean that he wasn’t able to have fun at the German manufacturer, with Schumacher being very popular at Mercedes, despite their lack of results together.

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Michael Schumacher was left ‘very much annoyed’ by crash at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix

The 2012 Spanish Grand Prix was Schumacher’s last ever race at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya – an event he once claimed one of the greatest victories in Formula 1 history at in 1996 in treacherous conditions.

Sadly, it ended badly for him. While fighting with Williams’ Bruno Senna, the teammate of eventual race winner Pastor Maldonado, the two crashed into turn one.

Schumacher was blamed for the incident and received a five-place grid penalty for the following race in Monaco.

He didn’t know it at the time, but he would secure pole in Monte Carlo at the next race, denying him what would have been one last chance to start from the front in his career.

“Then I tried to avoid to the inside again, but too late. Then it’s done because that’s in the braking phase. Very frustrating. Very much annoyed about that,” he told Autosport after the race.

“We’ve had already a strange manoeuvre from him in Brazil last year and a lap before he had a get together with [Romain] Grosjean, I don’t know what exactly happened there. I hope they [the stewards] understand the video pictures good enough to clarify that.”

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What happened to Michael Schumacher for the rest of the 2012 F1 season?

Schumacher would return to Spain one last time just a few weeks later, with the European Grand Prix at Valencia.

There, he would score his one and only podium with Mercedes in three seasons between 2010 and 2012, completing a legendary rostrum alongside Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

His first seven races produced five retirements and two tenth places, before he found his groove, retiring twice in the final 13 races, with six top-seven finishes.

It would have been fascinating to see him hang around for the next two years, just to see whether he could have won another race at the age of 45 in 2014 with what was a dominant car.

Sadly, it will always be a case of what could have been for his last few seasons with Mercedes, especially his Monaco pole position.