Podium for Rosberg as Schumacher struggles (Mercedes race review)

Posted on

| Written by

The British Grand Prix was a race of mixed fortunes for the Mercedes drivers.

Nico Rosberg claimed his third podium finish of 2010 as the team bounced back from a couple of poor results.

However Michael Schumacher endured a difficult race, being passed by Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel, leaving him ninth.

Michael Schumacher Nico Rosberg
Qualifying position 10 5
Qualifying time comparison (Q3) 1’31.430 (+0.805) 1’30.625
Race position 9 3
Average race lap 1’38.458 (+0.39) 1’38.067
Laps 52/52 52/52
Pit stops 1 1

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

Open lap times interactive chart in new window

Michael Schumacher

Reached Q3 but made mistakes on both his qualifying efforts and lined up tenth, 0.8 seconds slower than Rosberg.

He ran seventh but lost two places when he went off the track after his pit stop. He dropped another two places when he was passed by Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel, both on the run from The Loop towards Brooklands.

His fastest lap was 1.2 seconds slower than Rosberg’s. Schumacher said:

Again a race which I am not really happy about today. It was OK and seeing Nico on the podium is good for the team but my race was obviously less rewarding. I was in traffic for most of the race and did not really have a clear track.
Michael Schumacher

Compare Michael Schumacher’s form against his team mate in 2010

Nico Rosberg

After Mercedes’s problems with their exhaust-driven diffuser upgrade at Valencia – where they’d had to replace their rear carbon fibre suspension components with titanium ones to stop them melting – the car looked more competitive at Silverstone and Rosberg was clearly happier with it.

Having qualified fifth he moved up to fourth at the start. He took third during the pit stops by staying out two laps later than Robert Kubica and banging in the fastest lap of the race up to that point.

He had Jenson Button all over him after the safety car period but looked secure in third place, and duly claimed his third podium finish of the year.

Compare Nico Rosberg’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 British Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 British Grand Prix articles

    Image (C) Mercedes

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    29 comments on “Podium for Rosberg as Schumacher struggles (Mercedes race review)”

    1. very good drive Nico and Michael well why did he comeback huge mistake and let Sutil through pretty easy,wouldn’t have allowed that in his prime

    2. What does he have? 36 points? Please put Heidfeld in the car to spare us further tarnishing of The Legacy.

      1. No way. I’m loving every minute of Schumacher struggling, and I hope he struggles for the next three years before retiring. It would be a great way to shut all those annoying Schumacher fans.

        1. Yes, I absolutely agree !

          1. I love this! LOL

    3. Michael in his hay day never had competition like they have today. he hasn’t lost it he’s just not good enough.

      today’s boy racers are way faster than Michael ever was.
      its not the car, as we can see Rosberg is doing better than he is and will continue to do better.

      i feel for Michael, but he is not going to win races im afraid, his glory days are over. shame but thats how it is.

      1. I think it’s the tires that is hurting Schumacher. He just can’t make them work. He had a big hand in developing the tires when he was in F1 before his hiatus.

        Also, a BIG part of Schumacher’s success previously was due to testing, testing, and more testing and shaping the car’s development to his style of driving. With in-season testing being at the bare minimum, Schumacher is doomed.

        1. I heard Davidson commenting, that Schumi actually gets sick in the simulator during qualifying.

          So the lack of testing and only limited simulator running to make up for it must be hard to get the best way to work the tyres for Schumi.

          1. That was during the Friday practice, I saw/heard that too. Aren’t there ways to solve balance issues in simulated environments? Maybe something to try, given what he costs, and how important simulators are. Or maybe Nick can help him set things up :-p

      2. Rubbish,what a load of baloney.You need to read up on the technical side of racing cars before spouting claims like you just made.Michael is the 1st to admit youth is not on his side,but one thing is for sure his fans will stay firm..Michael Schumacher has won more Grand Prix’s than the total amount of F1 racers in Silverstone have won together.

        1. My above reply referred specifically to Erics contribution…

          1. Dianna.. Other than Schumacher’s past records you have nothing to say to defend your idol. There are times when you should just accept the fact that he is just not good enough, and that he should be glad he never raced the likes of Hamilton, Vettel, Kubica and Alonso throughout 1994-2005.

            If he did have competitors like them, you wouldn’t even be boasting about his achievements right now.

        2. i like your way of thinking Dianna, you support him all you like, he was good, he needs people like you.

          but at least i can see the light.

    4. Good drive nico., a race to forget for micheal. He put himself in that place in quali then lost places post pits, a senario were it’s usually he gains place.
      Was very surprised to see him gift a place to sutil , left quite a space to his left.
      Still everytime he sits in the car always look fwd to some magic.

    5. Charles Carroll
      12th July 2010, 5:02

      Well, I was wrong about Nico Rosberg. I figured that with Mercedes failing to get their car up to the standards of McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari, he would slide down the ranks quite quickly. He has proven me quite wrong on that, and I congratulate him. Well done!

      He is proving to be a pretty darn good driver and I will pay closer attention to him over the next few races.

    6. clearly disappointed about michael’s result, well it could have been better if not for his mistakes in qualifying and in the race but im still optimistic, i hope he do great in his home turf. a great result to nico, im kinda impressed of him getting out of trouble to make a decent result.

    7. Would Schuey have been any faster if he had more clear track? By the look of Qualifying, I don’t think he would have gained much on the leading 4 or 5 cars.
      Also he appears to have forgotten how to overtake, and make himself some clear air, and was easily beaten by Sutil in the ‘lesser’ car. I think maybe Mercedes should look at replacing him with one of the ‘boy racers’ from Germany, or even a rookie from GP2 or wherever, as I think they would be much better for the team in the long term.
      On the other hand, bravo Nico for another podium in a car which Schuey finds so difficult to handle. Long may it continue!

    8. On the other hand Schumacher should have gotten 26 points out of the last 3 races if it wasn’t for stupid mistakes or bad luck (tactics in Canada and Spain, puncture in Canada).

      Of course he should do better and it should be him, grandmaster schuey, who should deliver the points for the team but I hate how people put him down constantly.

    9. One moment which stands out to me about this race is when Vettel was overtaking Schumacher…at first it seemed he put up a fairly feeble defense, but on second thought it was apparent to me that Michael figured it best to allow Vettel past better than tangling with him at that corner – where he would later collide with Sutil.

      Despite all the bad press about him, and my own opinions, at least Schuey’s still got the presence of mind to make rational decisions like that. Can’t say Vettel would’ve done the same had the positions been reversed.

      1. MSC likes Vettel a lot,according to an article I read “somewhere in time”..Do you think he let him through,that was the feeling I had? somehow I cannot imagine the Old MSC doing that!! Also Vettel wrote an eulology on Schumacher just a week back,saying how much he reveres him.

        1. In China, Schumacher was trying to run Hamilton off the road while Ham was trying to overtake. When Vettel came he just let him by. Guess he does have a soft spot for the “kid”

    10. The Fastest lap is a bit deceiving, Schumacher was pretty much on Rosberg’s pace all race. It’s only at the end where Schumacher slowed and Rosberg quickened that caused the huge gap.

      Still, Brilliant effort from Rosberg.

    11. Very good race by Nico. I hope Schumacher can show us a bit more. Been a dissapointment so far.
      Ok, things haven’t always gone his way, but still this isn’t doing him any good.

    12. I don’t think that Michael’s comeback was a mistake I think he is trying way too hard.The car was good today but still Schumi couldn’t manage to make any use of it. I think some very very hard working needs to be done in the Schumacher side of the garage if he wants to stop his critic.

    13. Don’t remember him complaining when he was winning.maybe he should’ve quit while he was ahead. everyone thought he would be winning this year and i knew he would be just finishing in the points, however i also thought he may get a podium or two, but he’s even proving me wrong. no excuses.nico already has had 3 podiums and is double the points.

    14. ROSS BRAWN!

      stop screwing up Michael’s strategies…

      lets look at silverstone,

      Michael stops first on the softs, the hards are much slower on the out lap, and loses places…

      Button stops last, and makes up lots of places!

      Michael then at the end of the race, has the most worn hards, and once again, is screwed…

      this is not the first time this has happened, this has happened 3-4 times this year, Michael is called in to stop (while his lap times are good), before everyone else, and then, its game-over for the rest of the race….

      something is going wrong at Merc, they keep making the wrong call on strategy!

      Steve

      1. The strategy is totally wrong. Andrew Shovlin (Michaels Engineer) is making everything wrong. Takning him in before everyone when putting him on the hard tyres is soo wrong! He will loose grip and time the first 1-2 laps and the position are gone. unbelivable!

        1. No, his strategy was sound. He was stuck in traffic and they brought him in once Liuzzi had passed the Lotuses and was set to reel Schumacher in.

          Schumacher would very likely have gained positions if he hadn’t gone off shortly after his pit stop. That was what cost him a place to Kobayashi, and ruined any chances of making up places via the pit stop.

          He will loose grip and time the first 1-2 laps

          No, performance is better in the first laps immediately after a pit stop because the tyres are fresh. It’s the opposite to last year’s situation where drivers were slower after a pit stop because they’d taken fuel on board which out-weighed the beneficial effect of new tyres.

    15. Its a real shame to see Schumacher struggling again. His comeback hasn’t been as bad as many people make out, he’s outpaced Rosberg (a very talented driver) in Turkey, Barcelona, Monaco, things just haven’t been going his way.

      Still, I believe that if the car comes good, Schuey will be right up there.

    Comments are closed.