Sunday Report: Mercedes: A small improvement this weekend

After a first race where neither of the Silver Arrows saw the checkered flag, both Mercedes drivers finished their first race. But while they did cross the finish line, it was certainly not in the position they would have wanted, relegated far behind the other top teams.

Michael Schumacher 9th

I had a fairly straightforward race today, but it was quite exciting with a lot of ups and downs beforehand. The start was pretty good, and it was mainly about tire management. We probably couldn’t have hoped for more than two points today, and we clearly need to work on our race pace which is not yet at the level we want. We are all aware of this and we continue to work very hard to make the necessary step forward. On one lap, we can be at a good level when the car is functioning properly, but we need to keep working on our race performance.

Nico Rosberg 12th

« It wasn’t my race today and it was a difficult weekend. I had a bad start and lost a few positions, which made it really hard to try to get some points. Our race pace is not good enough, and it was very difficult to move forward, so unfortunately, we can’t be at the level where we wanted to be. Looking at my qualifying laps, we can be happy with a small step forward compared to Melbourne, so we’re going to keep working very hard to make further progress. »

Ross Brawn

« The team and the drivers did a great job today, but it’s clear that we are not fast enough at the moment. We had some stints that were a bit too long, where we waited to see if the rain would create an opportunity. That was our decision, and when it didn’t rain as predicted, we paid the price with the loss of perhaps one or two positions. Overall, the team’s work was solid today with good pit stops, and the cars were reliable in very challenging conditions. We will continue to work, and I’m looking forward to having a more competitive car and being able to be where we want to be. »

Norbert Haug

« After a difficult weekend, the first points are a small reward for all the members of our team. Of course, we know that there is still a lot of work ahead of us, and that we need to improve our car’s performance by a good margin. We are clearly not satisfied, but the positive side is that we came back today under very difficult conditions, and I want to thank everyone for their relentless efforts. Michael had a good race by gaining three places at the start. We speculated on the rain and made our drivers’ first stints last as long as possible. Nico’s race for points was compromised from the first corner. If you lose four places with our current technical package, it’s difficult to recover. But Nico made some very good overtakes, and his lap times were better today compared to fifteen days ago against other cars on the same strategy. A lot of work awaits us, but we are all very motivated to do it. We are now looking forward to the next weekend in China, and our goal is to improve a little more. »