An in-depth look at Formula 1 team, Mercedes GP – Part 2
Mercedes GP joined the sport with a bang back in 1954 as they secured the drivers’ title with the help of the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio. In order to make a similar comeback, the team had a pretty good plan for its return as they signed another legend
alongside a young driver before returning in 2010.
With Ross Brawn heading the team and the same management of BrawnGP backing Mercedes GP in its first season after its return, the team signed the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher who decided to return to the sport after 3 long years.
He was joined by a very talented young driver Nico Rosberg and with two Germans by their side, it seemed that they would be untouchable.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. The team scored excellent results during the pre-season testing sessions of the 2010 Formula 1 season and they had the pace of a top running team during that time.
Many reports claimed that Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes GP would be the top running teams competing for the titles in 2010 but that was not the case.
Mercedes GP failed to perform and show the same pace after the beginning of the season despite the fact that Schumacher was looking pretty good. The team kept securing good points consistently but they were quite obviously not enough to challenge the top
running teams of the sport as they were scoring podiums and wins.
Mercedes GP on the other hand secured just 3 podiums positions in its returning year and all of them were scored by Nico Rosberg while Michael Schumacher failed to score good results.
In the end, it seemed that they were the best ‘mid-running’ team of the season rather than a top running team as they finished in 4th place in the constructors’ standings with 206 points.
They were way off Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and McLaren’s pace but they vowed to bounce back and produce a better car for the 2011 Formula 1 season.
Even during the last couple of races of the 2010 Formula 1 season, the team failed to score good results and they were constantly being outscored by the top running teams of the sport which was not the team’s goal at all.
With a fresher mind, the team began its 2011 Formula 1 campaign and it seemed that they were looking really fast yet again during the pre-season testing period. Schumacher was once again looking in form and this time, it was pretty much confirmed by the
reports that Mercedes GP would be a top running team of the sport for sure.
According to the results of the 2011 Formula 1 season up until now, the team has still not secured a single podium yet and once again, Schumacher is being outperformed by Nico Rosberg which is quite disappointing for him. They are once again one of the ‘mid-running’
teams of the sport as their pace is nowhere near the top running teams of the sport.
However, they still have some chance and since they are looking much better than Lotus Renault GP in terms of pace, their chances of securing some good results and some vital data for the future are looking pretty good.
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