Mercedes hopes to be competitive at Silverstone

The Mercedes AMG team approaches the British Grand Prix with confidence following Michael Schumacher’s third-place finish in Valencia at the European Grand Prix, the first podium for the seven-time world champion since his return to F1 at the beginning of 2010.

The British weekend will be a special moment for the team as it will be one of their home races since its two factories are located near the track, as explained by team director Ross Brawn: « Like all our other home races, the British Grand Prix is a very special weekend for the team, particularly due to the proximity of our two factories based in Northamptonshire, which allows the majority of our employees to see us in action. »

Ross Brawn is also delighted to return to Silverstone as the atmosphere is always pleasant: Silverstone has a very special atmosphere, with truly passionate British motorsport fans, and the updates (made to the circuit) last year have helped create a fantastic event for this weekend.

Michael Schumacher agrees with his boss on this point, even though Silverstone has not always been successful for him, the fervor of the British fans is something very special for him: Racing at Silverstone is a very special moment every year. It is simply the home of motorsports and I have always been impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm of the British fans – as a race driver, it is nice to see such passion for our sport. On a personal level, I have mixed memories of this circuit; some good, some not so good, and some that are somewhat strange… as to how things will unfold this year, I prefer to wait and see.

Nico Rosberg also has fond memories of the atmosphere at the British Grand Prix: «Silverstone is an enjoyable race for us because most of the team members will be there as spectators with their families. I’ve always loved the atmosphere during this weekend and the fantastic British Formula 1 fans.»

The young German would like to achieve a good result, perhaps a place on the podium to match or even beat his best result on the British track: «My best result on this track was a third place, so obviously I would like to do even better, but it is so difficult to make predictions about performance this year. It’s a challenging track with many fast corners, especially from Copse through Becketts to Stowe. It’s hard to know if we will be competitive, but I am convinced that we can achieve a good result.»

Michael Schumacher, strong from his third place in Valencia, would like to continue this positive momentum, but he knows that things are sometimes difficult to predict, so he remains cautious: “We have already seen many races unfold differently from what we had anticipated. Obviously, we want to continue the momentum from our result in Valencia and provide a great show at Silverstone, especially because it’s one of our home races. It goes without saying that we want to give everyone at Brackley and Brixworth (the two Mercedes AMG factories) a result they can be proud of this weekend.”

Ross Brawn is of the same opinion but he hopes that Schumacher’s third place combined with intense work in the team’s factories will allow the F1 W03 to be competitive on the Silverstone circuit: « Our good weekend in Valencia has boosted the whole team, with a lot of work in our factories to improve our performance, we hope to have another good weekend at Silverstone.»