How have Mercedes GP performed in the 2011 Formula 1 season so far?
Mercedes GP are currently going through another below par season as they are still nowhere near the top running teams of Formula 1 which are Ferrari, McLaren and most importantly Red Bull Racing.
The team spent a lot of its time during the 2010 Formula 1 season in building its 2011 Formula 1 car and during the pre-season testing period of the new season, it seemed that Mercedes would be at the top of their game.
Michael Schumacher fared well in the pre-season testing sessions while Nico Rosberg also performed consistently for the team, giving good results.
The fans on the other hand were also expecting race-winning performances from the team as well but after the first race of the 2011 Formula 1 season took place, all the expectations went down the drain as the team was unable to secure a single point and
even their qualifying results were quite disappointing.
The following race on the other hand was much better for Schumacher as he secured the 9th place but still it was not a satisfactory result for the team as they were still nowhere near the podium yet.
After the race, it was quite evident that Mercedes GP clearly did not have the pace to cope up with either McLaren or Ferrari and by then, the team also realised that they would have to come up with some major upgrades in order to improve their performance
as the car was clearly struggling to give its best.
The Chinese Grand Prix of the 2011 Formula 1 season on the other hand was the entire opposite of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg scored some pretty good results as he secured the 4th place in qualifying followed by a 5th place
finish in the race while Schumacher finished in 8th place giving the team a total of 14 points.
At that point, it was quite clear that Mercedes GP and Lotus Renault GP were pretty much on the same page as Renault’s drivers were starting to lack some pace as well and the two best mid-running teams of the sport were becoming easier to distinguish.
The following race took place in Turkey and it was another good race for Nico but the seven-time former Formula 1 world champion was unable to secure a single point. It was quite clear however that Mercedes were improving its pace while Renault’s performance
started to deteriorate.
The Spanish Grand Prix which is one of Schumacher’s favourite race weekends was pretty good for him as he scored 6th place ahead of his teammate who finished in 7th place to give the team a double point finish.
Monaco on the other hand was a complete disaster for the team as both of the drivers finished point-less while the following Canadian Grand Prix was Schumacher’s best result of the season as he finished in 4th place.
The European Grand Prix on the other hand was just another average race for the team as Nico scored the 7th place while Schumacher was unable to secure a single point once again.
As a result, Mercedes GP are currently in 5th place in the constructors’ standings with 58 points while Renault are just 3 points ahead of them in 4th place.
It seems that Mercedes might be able to beat Renault this year but competing alongside the top running teams of the season all of a sudden would require a miracle.
Let’s see how the Silver Arrow team fares in the upcoming British Grand Prix taking place this weekend in Silverstone.
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