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Hamilton arriving at the right time - Schumacher

ESPN Staff
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Michael Schumacher: "It's a strong structure for 2013 and beyond" © Press Association
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Michael Schumacher says Lewis Hamilton is arriving at Mercedes at the right time in the team's development.

Having returned bought out the championship-winning Brawn team at the end of 2009, Mercedes has scored just one victory in the three years that followed with Schumacher and Nico Rosberg driving. Schumacher has now retired after being replaced by Lewis Hamilton for the 2013 season, but he says Mercedes is now in a position to build a competitive car and develop it effectively throughout the year.

"In the first two years we definitely did not have the capability to fight on several fronts," Schumacher was quoted as saying by The Sun. "If there were problems we had to take care of them so the development process was interrupted.

"Only now is there a structure that enables both. It's a strong structure for 2013 and beyond. The car we had last year was built under the old conditions. I'm talking about quantity, not quality. That has always been the reason why development stagnated."

Schumacher added that the structure was in place towards the end of 2012 but was taking time to work properly.

"We created the basic conditions for the team to move forward. Maybe a few cogs have to mesh before that happens."

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