Schumacher surprised with Rosberg’s qualifying pace at 2012 Chinese Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Mercedes AMG driver Michael Schumacher has said that he feels surprised with the pace of his teammate, Nico Rosberg during the qualifying at 2012 Chinese Grand Prix held at Shanghai International Circuit on Saturday.
Rosberg claimed his first ever pole position in the qualifying session at the Shanghai circuit and was followed by McLaren’s driver Lewis Hamilton.
The British driver stayed ahead of Schumacher who finished at third with his best time of 1 minute and 35.691 seconds.
However, the Briton has to face a five-place grid penalty due to which Michael Schumacher will be at the front row on the second grid position with Rosberg.
Moreover, when the seven-time world champion, Schumacher was asked to express his thoughts about the performance of his compatriot, he said, “I said well done because that was a phenomenal lap. For all of us to see the gap that big is a bit of a surprise.
But he is known as a good qualifier and there is no reason to be unhappy, the opposite [is true]. I'm happy for him, his first pole, congratulations. We now know that it will be the first front row of proper Mercedes - Silver Arrows - and that it's going to
take place in the Chinese Grand Prix tomorrow.”
Even though the record championship holder has secured competitive grid positions in the first two races of the season, however, he could not convert the set of performances into a podium finish in either of the races.
In the Australian Grand Prix, he had to retire out of the race at Turn 1 when his car lost the drive. That hampered the German’s weekend and immediately in the next race weekend in Malaysia, Schumacher spun off in the very first lap after Romain Grosjean
of Lotus made contact with the rear of his car. After struggling a lot in Sepang, Schumacher was able to manage a solitary point as he finished 10th.
Nevertheless, he said that he is still confident for the races ahead while he said that he is waiting for normal race conditions. He also said that they are trying their best to make the essential advancements and the necessary preparations so as to enhance
their race pace for the upcoming season.
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