Schumacher to show his magic in the Chinese Grand Prix: Formula 1 Update
It’s been 21 races, since the return of the seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher for Mercedes, but the veteran has been unable to make an impression until now. His best result in the races has been three fourth-place finishes in the Spanish,
Turkish and the Korean Grand Prix in 2010. Although the German expected improvement in the 2011 season, he has managed to score just two points in the same number of races so far.
The third race of this season will take place at Shanghai in China, on Sunday 17 April. Schumacher will be eyeing to turn things around this time, but it will be an easy task for him.
The legendary driver claimed, “I am, of course, looking forward to racing in Shanghai as challenges fire me up as much as everybody else in our team. We know that we have little time to build after the race in Malaysia but we are learning with every lap
that we race.”
He further stated, “We know that our fans in China are very enthusiastic and really get behind us, so we will definitely try to put on a good show for them.”
Mercedes proved to be much more competitive during the last pre-season test at Barcelona, but the team has failed to live up to the expectations since then. The German team had a bad start to the season in the Australian GP. The car didn’t have pace during
the practice and qualifying sessions and there were numerous technical issues as well.
During the race weekend in Malaysia, the German giants looked promising. Before the start of the qualifiers, it appeared that Mercedes had sorted out the issues which had put the team on the back-foot. However, Schumacher was unable to go beyond the second
leg of qualifying due to some issues with the rear wing of his car.
The 42-year-old started the Malaysian GP from 11th, but gained three positions at the start of the race. He looked good in the first stint, but decided to stay longer on the track. This cost him a lot of time, as the Pirelli tyres didn’t provide
him the grip required to match the front-runners.
Mercedes’ reason to keep Schumi out on track for a longer period of time was that they expected rain, which didn’t come down in the entire race. With just a few laps to go in the race, it appeared as if there would be no points for the German car manufacturers
for a second consecutive race.
Although the fans and the team would have given up hopes, Schumacher battled hard to end the race in points after gaining several positions in the order. This clearly showed the commitment of the veteran driver, who has been criticised by many on his return
to the sport.
The best way for Schumacher to silence his critics would be to perform with the same level of consistency, which he did in his successful years with Ferrari. It is clear that he doesn’t have the car to win races, but a bit of “Schumi Magic” can do the trick
for the legend. He has the record of clocking the fastest lap time in Shanghai with his Italian team, but will be looking to repeat his performance with a different team this time.
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