Schumacher blames DRS for poor performance at 2012 Bahrain GP qualifying – Formula 1 news
Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher has blamed Drag Reduction System (DRS) failure for disappointing performance at qualifying of 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix held in Sakhir on Saturday.
The seven-time world champion could not be able to make his way through to the Q2 and was sitting in the garage after setting his best lap time of 1 minute and 34.865 seconds while other drivers were trying to improve their timings. Therefore, the German
driver came 18th in the qualifying and he will also have to face five-place grid penalty due to his gearbox change.
Schumacher’s DRS stopped working when he was aiming to qualify for Q2 without using a set of soft tyre which eventually put a limit on his top pace. Moreover, he expressed that he feels very upset about this incidence.
“I am obviously very disappointed to have qualified in 18th position on the grid for a race which looks to be quite competitive for us,” he said. “Unfortunately on my fast lap, which was looking quite good, my DRS broke in the last sector.”
Besides, the record championship holder said that they have tried their best to fix the issue in the garage but could not be able to find out any solution. Nonetheless, he said that they are now looking forward to perform well in the race ahead.
“We tried to fix it in the garage but were not able to go out again,” he added. “Trying for a lap without DRS on different tyres would not have made sense. We now have to try to see what we can do from here and push as much as possible.”
It will be important to mention that the team principal of Mercedes, Ross Brawn said that he still feels positive for the fourth race even with quite an uncompetitive grid positions.
In addition, Brawn said that the fresh tyres which Schumacher has saved during the qualifying will definitely give the team a competitive advantage in the race.
Mercedes with their new F-duct design have been seen as one of the most competent teams in 2012 Formula 1 season. Additionally, the team has got the potential to fight for the championship title.
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