Although Rosberg kept scoring points and even podiums with the same car, the team chiefs stood up for the defence of the legend Schumacher, saying that the team’s car does not suit his racing style. It was quoted by the management at several occasions that
the tyres and the weight-distribution of the car have changed immensely in the past three seasons.
For the next race in Spain the team came up with some modifications in the car, in the hope of letting both the drivers, especially Schumacher get maximum points on the track. The advancements served well instantly for him, although did not last for very
long.
The 41-year-old finished at the fourth place, leading his teammate for the first time as Rosberg wrapped up the round poorly at 13th place. The weekend was happily celebrated by the team as they hoped that the veteran racer would do wonders. However,
nothing as such came forward instead a poor 12th place finish embraced the seven-time champion at the Monaco GP, coupled by seventh position of his teammate Rosberg.
This race not only disappointed the fans of the historical brand and the legendary driver but also left almost no hope for the team to get back into the battle. Although the next round in Turkey gave another forth place finish of the season to the old German,
yet he was not able to return to the championship battle.
Unlike the 2009 season, when the team led both the Drivers’ as well as the Constructor’s Championship right from the start of the season, this year it was completely out of the battle by the mid of the year. Last year, the team was the pioneer of the double
diffuser concept, which gave the Brackley based outfit an advantage over its rivals. However, this season had a dull beginning and was not able to develop the F-duct and the blown diffuser while the other teams did so.
Although the team tried later strived to get some quick developments but instead of being benefited by these, they only suffered even further. As the team entered the streets of Valencia in late June, they had a redesigned floor but the complex new system
only ended up in overheating. The day finished for the team with a 10 and 15 place finishes by Rosberg and Schumacher respectively, two totally screwed up cars and several new issues to fight with.
The next race at Silverstone brought the biggest surprise of the season for the team, as out of nowhere, Rosberg made up to the podium. A glorious third place finish surprised the team as the driver dragged his struggling W01 past many of the much competitive
cars on the track. However, even the young German’s much impressive attempt was now able to lift the team as his teammate this time again finished at ninth place bringing home just 2 more points.
The next race in Germany saw the young driver pack up at 8th place while this time, once again, Schumacher was not able to finish anywhere above 9. The upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix, the last round before the summer break was one of the worst
weekends for the Mercedes GP team. Schumacher brought further disappointments as he ended at 11th place while his teammate this time retired from the race.
The following three-week summer break was expected to relax the nerves of Michael Schumacher who joined the grid this season after a break of three years, and soothe the sad team as well. However, as the squad returned after the long vacation they had some
news to reveal.
To be continued…
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