Posts tagged Mercedes
Vettel holds off Ferrari to take Pole.
Mar 14th
Sebastian Vettel has continued RedBull’s sucess from last season and proved the critics of the RB6 wrong by holding off Fernando Alonso and Filipe Massa in the Ferrari’s to take Pole Position at Bahrian. Vettel in claiming poe for the season opener has put himself in good stead to claim the first race win of the season, however with two Ferrari’s behind him, it won’t be easy andthe race-pace of the RedBull and the teams race strategy will be vital on Sunday.
During the post race press conference, Vettel was asked if he was suprised that he was able to take pole for Bahrain. He said: “A big surprise. I mean in winter testing no-one really knew where we were. Of course it was clear that there were four teams pretty strong, but close to each other. To be honest yesterday it was a very tough day for us and we had not as much running as we were hoping for. Another long night especially for the mechanics, not a lot of sleep, some tired faces, but everyone was still keen this morning to push. I knew we had a great car but first of all you have to get it together. I have to say practice this morning and qualifying went pretty smoothly. Obviously I am very, very happy to be on pole, so thanks to the team. As I said the boys didn’t get much sleep in the last month with a lot of testing in a short amount of time. To come here first time everyone really shows how strong they are and to be on top is definitely a very, very nice feeling.”
The critics have sighted that during testing, the RedBull had the pace, however not in lone race stint and race style simulations, that title seemed to belong to the Ferrari’s and the McLarens. RedBull have always been critisised for reliablity and in-particular a weak Renaul engine which is down on Power compared to the Ferrari and Mercedes engines. This point proved itself in Bahrain when Button’s McLaren was 9km/h quicker then Vettel through the speed trap.
Alonso appeared to have pace early on and looked set to take P2, however in the dying seconds of quali, team-mate Filipe Massa, on his first Quali since returning to the sport, pipped him off by less then .2 of a second.
Rosberg should be happy with his effort in beating 7-time world champion team mate Michael in order to take 5th spot on the grid, just ahead of the other RedBull of Webber in P6.
As expecting the two HRT’s of Senna and Chandhook finished 2nd last and last palce respectively. Chandhook was more then 10 seconds slower the Vettels pole time, no doubt there will be chaos during the race, with such a massive time difference just over a single lap in quali, it won’t be long befroe the HRT’s start to become lapped.
BAHRAIN GP – QUALIFYING RESULTS:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:55.029 1:53.883 1:54.101
2. Massa Ferrari 1:55.313 1:54.331 1:54.242
3. Alonso Ferrari 1:54.612 1:54.172 1:54.608
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.341 1:54.707 1:55.217
5. Rosberg Mercedes 1:55.463 1:54.682 1:55.241
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:55.298 1:54.318 1:55.284
7. Schumacher Mercedes 1:55.593 1:55.105 1:55.524
8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:55.715 1:55.168 1:55.672
9. Kubica Renault 1:55.511 1:54.963 1:55.885
10. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:55.213 1:54.996 1:56.309
11. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:55.969 1:55.330
12. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:55.628 1:55.653
13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:56.375 1:55.857
14. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.428 1:56.237
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:56.189 1:56.265
16. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:56.541 1:56.270
17. Petrov Renault 1:56.167 1:56.619
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:57.071
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:59.728
20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:59.852
21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2:00.313
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2:00.587
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 2:03.240
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 2:04.904
Heidfeld gets his Mercedes seat
Feb 4th
It may not be the seat Nick Heidfeld was hoping for, but he is now a member of the MercedesGP team as their reserve driver.
Nick has long been linked to the team as a possible driver not long after it was announced that Mercedes bought out Brawn, however it was Michael who managed to snatch that dream away from Heidfeld, or atleast for this season he has.
Nick will complete an all German driver lineup for the Silver Arrows. He has a lot of experience as a reserve driver too. He was a test driver for McLaren and was overlooked numerous times as a season driver until he finally signed with BMW-Sauber.
There is a possibility that Nick could have got a seat as an active driver at one of the more struggling teams on the grid, however he chose to stick with a strong team, no doubt hoping that the time will come at some stage for either Michael or Nico to leave the team and Nick can then step into their seat. This may not be the right move for Nick however, because there is another young German who I think will soon be knocking on MercedesGP’s door (not saying any names of course…Sebastian…).
Nick is clearly happy to be part of the Silver Arrows. “I am very pleased to be joining Mercedes GP,” he said. “It’s the team which has attracted the most interest in the close season, not only because of the comeback of Michael Schumacher but also because this season sees the return of the silver arrows cars as a Mercedes-Benz works team for the first time in over fifty years.”.
It may be an interesting season for Nick, there is still a bit of a grey cloud over Schumacher in regards to his neck injury. There is every chance the 3rd driver may be required this season for Mercedes if Schumacher’s neck injury plays up and prevents him from participating in some of the races.
Nick has a lot of experience in Formula1 and I don’t think it will be long before he is driving again in a Formula1 race.
It’s a logical move for Mercedes to have another young experienced German in their driver lineup.
Valencia: Day1 Testing Wrap-up
Feb 2nd
It was a busy day on Monday in Valencia with many 2010 cars breaking cover for the first time and the drivers stepping into their 2010 title contenders for the first time.
It was the first time the world got to have a look at the 2010 Toro Rosso, Williams and Mercedes W01.
RedBull and Force India were not present, instead opting to further develop their cars, also none of the ‘new’ teams on the grid this year were present.
Michael Schumacher finally stepped into the W01 after much anticipating. He was on the pace and very quickly bettered his team mate, Nico Roseberg’s, times. Schumacher was lapping in the mid 1:13.5′s before breaking into the low 1:13′s and even a very high 1:12.
The nose on the Mercedes W01 is a radical slopped nose similar to last years RedBull’s nose and the new Torro Rosso STR5 is and even more radical looking variation of the design.
Mercedes were the only team on the day run both their drivers on the day.
When asked about how he enjoyed his first day at the wheel of the W01, Schumacher responded: “It was a perfect roll-out for the new car today,” Schumacher commented. “I felt totally comfortable and really had a feeling that everything was very natural. It felt just like at the very beginning of my career in 1991 – when on the first lap, I thought, ‘Wow, that was really fast!’ and then on the second lap I was just extremely excited!
Schumacher “I feel like a young boy again and really enjoyed myself out there. We did a good job today, just making a few control checks, and the most important thing was that the car ran reliably. With Nico and I covering 79 laps between us, it was a superb job by the team.”
The big news of the day however was Filipe Massa’s successful return to Formula1 at the wheel of the new F10. He was on the pace from start to finish on the day. Ferrari’s F10 is already to be proving a far better package then lasts years car. Massa topped the morning sessions in the mid 1:13.5′s but then bettered his morning times to record a 1:12.574 which was not beaten. Massa however did record more laps then any other driver.
It was a dream start to the new season for Ferrari who’s reputation took a battering last year due to a very poor performance during the season and the loss of Filipe due to injury and lack of good reserve driver talent.
When massa stepped out of his car after his dream run, he said he felt “zero fear” he went on to say he was “happy to be back after such a long time watching the race on television and sometimes on the track,” he also said he felt very physically fit and could have easily done many more laps then he did.
A surprise pace-setter of the day was Pedro De la Rosa who managed to set the second fastest time of the day int he BMW-Sauber. He edged out both Rosberg and Schumacher in the Mercedes and Paffet in the McLaren to finish just two-tenths of a second of Massa’s fastest lap of the day.
Without getting too carried away, it is very hard to judge teams true pace this year during the pre-season testing, due to the large fuel tanks. The discrepency that is now possible between fuel loads means some cars could be running extremely heavy to do long distance runs and other teams could be cheating by only putting a small number of laps worth of fuel in their cars to impress the time sheets.
Williams seemed to struggle a little bit, with Rubins bringing out the red flag for a short time while his car was stopped out on track, however he managed to do over 70 laps in the car and set respectable pace ahead of the Torro Rosso and Renault team.
Renault were the slowest team of the day with Robert Kubica only managed a best time of 1:15 flat, however they managed to put in some decent track time with 69 laps.
On Tuesday we will see Hamilton step into the McLaren for the first time, with Jensen button taking over on the final day.
The times at the end of day 1 are as follows:
1. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:12.574, 102 Laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:12.784, 74 Laps
3. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:12.947, 40 Laps
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:13.543, 39 Laps
5. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:13.846, 86 Laps
6. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:14.449, 75 Laps
7. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:14.762, 18 Laps
8. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:15.000, 69 Laps
Schumacher to test GP2 car at Jerez
Jan 11th
A spokesman for Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has confirmed that he will setp into a GP2 car at Jerez circuit in Spain this week in preparation for his Formula One return.
The last time he drove an F1 car was during a brief test in a two-year old Ferrari last year during his planned return to Ferrari which was aborted due to a neck injury.
Whilst there is an F1 testing ban in place, the FIA has approved Schumacher ‘s GP2 test which will take place between Tuesday and Thursday this week.
The GP2 car will be provided by the British GP2 team, Super Nova Racing.
Last week Schumacher visited the Mercedes factory to check on his new team’s preparations. No doubt there will be a bunch of Mercedes team members on hand during his GP2 test this week in Spain.
Sauber and Merc’ Launch cars prior to Feb tests
Jan 7th
According to local German press, (Bild) Mercedes Petronas GP plan on launching their 2010 car on the 25th January, ahead of the first offical testing in Valencia on the 1st February. The launch is rumoured to take place at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart. The car’s chasis is rumoured to be RB1, named after team principal, Ross Brawn.
Meanwhile Sauber have confirmed that on Sunday 31st January they will be launching their new team and 2010 car at Valencia, just one day prior to the start of official testing. Kamui Kobayashi has already been confirmed as one of thier drivers after he was left without a seat for 2010 due to Toyota pulling out of Formula1 after the end of the 2009 season.
Team Principal Peter Sauber has already said that due to BMW pulling out of the sport, his cars will now be powered by Ferrari engines.
The official February test dates are as follows:
February 1st – 3rd – Valencia
February 10th – 13th – Jerez
February 17th – 20th – Jerez
February 25th – 28th – Circuit de Catalunya
Montezemolo says Schumacher will drive for Mercedes
Dec 20th
In a bizarre statement, Luca has referred to the “real” Schumacher and to his identical twin, hinting that the real Schumacher would always be part of Ferrari, yet his identical twin plans to return to Formula1 and since Ferrari can’t offer him that opportunity next year, then it may be with Mercedes.
In short he has admitted Schumacher will drive for Ferrari next year, he has said:
“A guy called Michael Schumacher told us at Monza (back in September) he would renew his contract and it looked like his career would finish with Ferrari,” Di Montezemolo said. “But then there’s another one who looks like him, German, same name and decided to do a new career. Everybody in life can do what they prefer, and I understand that there is somebody at 41 years who wants to try again.
“So I think it’s possible this twin, another Michael Schumacher, same age, same capability, some determination and spirit, will drive for Mercedes next year.”
He then went on to say:
The real Schumacher, the one I know, will remain forever part of the Ferrari family. I said it in Monza and I repeated it in Abu Dhabi.
But, it seems he has a twin brother, identical in every way, who seems to have it in his head to go and race in Formula 1 with Mercedes. I don’t know him personally, but it seems we have nothing to offer him: we have two young drivers in Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, on whom we are counting to deliver a lot next year.
Joking apart, Michael’s current role revolves around the development of our road cars, including the important phase which saw us launch the 458 Italia, which is the essence of technology and owes a lot to research carried out on track with the Formula 1 car. I think that, this summer, when I asked him to stand in for Felipe, after the terrible accident in Budapest, he suddenly rediscovered the desire to race and the fact he was unable to follow through with that, left him a void that we are unable to fill.
I remember how despondent he sounded on the evening of 9 August, when he called me to say that the problem with his neck meant he could not race in Valencia. It’s lucky that, despite the unsporting stance of some, we were able to run him in the 2007 car at Mugello, otherwise Michael would not have been fully aware of his situation. We have tried to move forward with the idea of running a third car, but for the moment, that is not possible.
I don’t know what he will decide for the future, but I extend to him and indeed his twin brother, my very best wishes.
Luca di Montezemolo
By not renewing his contract with the Scuderia Schumacher is free to join MercedesGP, we have already reported that Mercedes do not plan on making an announcement until the New Year, and with Christmas no less then a week away, it seems unlikely that they will announce their second driver until the New Year. Whatever the announcement is, it remains the most anticipated F1 comeback of all time.
Will Rosberg make Mercedes ‘his own’?
Nov 24th
Four years ago Nico Rosberg won the inaugural GP2 world Championship. He was on top of the world and the talk of the motorsport world, being the son of former Formula1 World Champion Kiki Rosberg he had a lot to live up to, and it looked like he wouldn’t disappoint. The following year he was snapped up by Frank Williams and his F1 dream came true, he was making his F1 Début as a rookie driving for one of the most highly regarded teams on the Grid. Nico’s father won the Formula1 World Championship for Frank Williams in 1982, Nico was destined for sucess driving for the same team his father did 15 years earlier. A few months into the season however and Williams turned out to not be the team it expected to be that year. The team failed to finish on the podium all season, the first time since Williams’ first season in 1977 and Romberg’s status as the ‘next big thing’ in F1 started to fade away. It’s been a long tough road with Williams who have been a very under-performing team. His former Williams team-mate Mark Webber has had a string of podiums this year and recorded his first F1 win since leaving Williams for RedBull Racing, something Nico would have surely done by now if he had not still been driving for the Grove based team.
All that is about to change however when he drives with the Silver Arrows next year and judging by the performance of the BrawnGP team this year, Nico’s first GP win is surely just around the corner and the Mercedes works team seem set make a successful return to Formula1. Nico will be the first German to drive in F1 for Mercedes since 1955 and with the no.2 driver rumoured to be another German, it looks to be World War II all over again on the Grid next year with the British Super-team of McLaren vs. the potentially All-German MercedesGP.
Being a German driver in a German team and possibly has got to have its advantages. This decade certain drivers have been synonymous with certain teams. Schumacher and Ferrari, Alonso and Renault and soon it will be Rosberg and Mercedes.
Nico is already proving to be an ambassador for Mercedes right from the minute the announcement was made “No other brand in Formula One can look back on such a long and successful tradition in motor racing. “ He said. Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport responded by saying how he had followed Nico’s career closely since he raced karts alongside Lewis Hamilton.
Nico has a great opportunity to shape his future in F1 with a new team, he will be able to grow and develop with the team and with the financial backing of a large manufacturer, the world will be his oyster.
