Mercedes driver Schumacher says somewhat satisfied with Monaco practice sessions – Formula 1 news
Mercedes GP driver Michael Schumacher has said he is somewhat satisfied with his performance in free practice sessions of the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix that took place on Thursday.
The German’s MGP-W02 car crashed in the last laps of morning practice session and therefore, it was being expected that he will not be able to participate in the afternoon practice session. However, the team mechanics did an excellent job on the car and
made it perfect and quick, as it was in the morning session.
Schumacher said, “With my crash this morning, we had made a set-up change for the run and I locked up braking for Turn One. After that, my decision to go down the escape road was too late, which is why I hit the barrier. The mechanics did a super job and
the car this afternoon was just as quick as this morning.”
After the first practice session, the Petronas-sponsored team started their afternoon practice run confidently just like the morning session. However, the 42-year-old driver finished his run in the seventh spot and was 1.233 seconds behind the session leader
Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.
His teammate Nico Rosberg had a trouble-free run in both practice sessions on Thursday. He was only 0.198 seconds slower than Alonso and finished the second practice run in the third spot. Rosberg’s impressive performance in second practice was a confidence
booster for Schumacher that they can fight with the top running teams of the 2011 Formula 1 season this weekend.
The seven-time world champion added, “Our gap to the front seems to be less here than in Barcelona. What Nico showed in terms of one-lap pace looks good, and our long runs were also quite reasonable.”
The struggling driver is still unable to compete for his pole position on the grid for this season’s championship. Despite his unimpressive performance in the practice sessions of the Monaco Grand Prix, Schumacher is still confident for the race day.
Mercedes are still expecting some productive runs from Schumacher in the remaining races of the ongoing season. Let’s see to what an extent he lives up to his team’s expectations.
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