German Grand Prix: Race Review
July 25, 2012
Midway through the F1TM season, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg finished the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in seventh and tenth places respectively.
Following a strong qualifying performance on Saturday, Schumacher gained a P3 start and later went on to set the team’s second fastest lap in three races, in just 1:18.725.
However, falling back from third to seventh wasn’t the outcome he had expected for the team’s home race. Schumacher admitted: “I squeezed everything I could out of the car but, unfortunately, that’s everything we could manage today. It’s a pity because I would have loved to have given something more to all our Mercedes-Benz colleagues who were supporting us today.”
Rosberg put in a great drive, gaining 11 places from 21st and taking the remaining championship point. After the race he claimed: “It feels ok to have scored one point today after such a bad qualifying yesterday and starting right at the back.” He went on to say: “We had a good strategy and I had great fun out there at times overtaking so many people to move from 21st to tenth place.”
The team ran a three-stop strategy at the legendary German circuit – a strategy which Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, was convinced would be the fastest option. In retrospect he added: “We will evaluate whether a two-stop strategy could have brought us more.”
Team Principal Ross Brawn concluded: “We ran the race as well as we could today, in the knowledge that we would have to make three pit stops. Some of our rivals on two-stop strategies faded towards the end but the drop-off was not sufficient for our drivers to be able to take advantage on fresher tyres.”
Brawn praised the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS pit crew for their excellent work and concluded: “We made the right decisions this afternoon but, after 67 laps, Michael found himself 29 seconds behind the winner – that shows we need to find more pace from the car.”
Ferrari’s winner Fernando Alonso extended his championship lead to 154 points and became the first three-time winner of 2012.
The team now set their sights on the next race of the season, the Hungarian Grand Prix, taking place on 27–29 July.
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