The Mercedes AMG Petronas team had a dramatic rain soaked Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos on Sunday that saw Michael Schumacher end his Formula One career battling and finishing in seventh place, while teammate Nico Rosberg finished in 15th position.

Race Overview:

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel may have finished only sixth at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prixo, but it was enough to make him the first triple world champion since Michael Schumacher.

Light rain made the start difficult, but then Vettel was spun through 180 degrees in Turn Four as he was hit by Bruno Senna’s Williams, which then took out Sergio Perez’s Sauber.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton led Button in the early stages as Massa boiled through to snatch third place and then handed the place to Alonso on the fifth lap. But soon the conditions were bad enough for some to consider switching their slicks for Pirelli’s intermediates.

Button began to press Hamilton, and as Alonso ran wide in Turn One, Nico Hulkenberg took third in his Force India. Button led the sixth lap by a hair from Hamilton, who quickly repassed, but by lap eight Button was back in control and on the tenth Hamilton pitted, together with Alonso and Vettel, for the intermediates.

As mayhem reigned in the pits, Button and Hulkenberg – both still on slicks – pulled out a 40s lead, and on the 18th lap the German moved ahead. But their advantage was negated by a safety-car intervention between laps 23 and 29 to clear away debris, handing their pursuers a lifeline.

On the restart on Lap 30 Hulkenberg pulled away, but Button had grained his front tires and was repassed by Hamilton. The latter then set about reeling in Hulkenberg and snatched the lead on the 48th lap when the Force India twitched sideways. The conditions were beginning to worsen with more rain, however, and as the two leaders come across Raikkonen on the 54th lap, rejoining after a spin, and lapped runners Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock, Hulkenberg grabbed the opportunity to dive inside Hamilton as they crossed the line to start the 55th lap.

Unfortunately he then spun under braking for the Senna S, and hit Hamilton’s left-front wheel. The Briton’s last race for McLaren thus ended badly, and as Button resumed the lead Hulkenberg dropped back after being awarded a drive-through penalty for the incident.

There was more drama. Vettel pitted for medium tires on the 52nd lap, then came back in on the 54th for intermediates, but the second time around the tyre warmer on the new right-front wheel proved reluctant to come off, costing him precious time.

So with 11 laps to go Button was 16s ahead of Massa, who had driven a heroic race in which he helped Alonso at every opportunity. He duly handed his second place to the Spaniard on the 62nd lap, as Vettel worked his way up to sixth behind team mate Webber, who’d lost time earlier with a half spin, and Hulkenberg.

When Vettel subsequently overtook Schumacher on the 64th lap, the points situation became 281 to 278. There was to be no miracle for Ferrari, after all. Vettel was the triple consecutive world champion.

But there was one more drama to be played out. It came when Paul di Resta crashed his Force India heavily in the final sector on the 69th lap, bringing the safety car out again. Di Resta was okay, and as the safety car pulled in again before the 71st lap was over, in accordance with the rules, the field crossed the line for the last time under the yellows.

Button was delighted with a book-end victory, while Alonso was philosophical in defeat and Massa emotional on his home ground in another race in which he could have outpaced his team leader.

Ferrari thus stayed ahead of McLaren for the runner-up slot in the constructors’ championship. Webber was fortunate to be fourth after his adventures, as was Hulkenberg to be fifth. Vettel beamed from ear to ear, no longer caring that his damaged Red Bull had been bog slow in a straight line.

Behind Schumacher, seventh on his 306th and final outing, Jean-Eric Vergne drove a great race to eighth for Toro Rosso as Kamui Kobayashi’s yo-yo race yielded Sauber ninth ahead of Raikkonen, who never recovered from the off in Turn 12 where he had much trouble getting back on to the track after a trip up an escape road.

Eleventh was the subject of a massive fight between Caterham and Marussia. In the end Vitaly Petrov atoned for a spin while fighting with Charles Pic to catch and repass the Frenchman. That one move was worth 10th in the constructors’ standings to Tony Fernandes’ team, as they moved back ahead of Marussia.

Daniel Ricciardo was 13th after a late tyre stop in his Toro Rosso, but was comfortably ahead of the fight for 14th between Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg who had an appalling day in his Mercedes, and Marussia’s Timo Glock.

Kovalainen’s late pass on both was the icing on the cake for Caterham. Pedro de la Rosa headed Narain Karthikeyan home in the HRTs, and Di Resta was classified 19th as Hamilton, Senna and Perez were joined on the retirement list by Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado who also spun out.

Mercedes AMG Petronas team thoughts and tire info for the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Both drivers suffered a puncture from debris in the early stages of the race which compromised their afternoons
• Michael stopped four times on laps 5, 8, 17 and 54, with a prime/prime/inter/prime/inter tire usage
• Nico also came into the pits four times on laps 9, 18, 20 and 50, using option/inter/prime/prime/inter tires

Michael Schumacher

What an exciting and eventful Grand Prix! Strangely enough, my last ever Formula One race began with a puncture which pushed me down the running order. But it’s always been my philosophy to never give up – there’s always a chance, you just have to keep going and seize it when it comes. It’s a strange sort of coincidence that I’ve ended my Formula One career now in P7, which was my first ever qualifying result at Spa-Francorchamps 308 races ago. It also occurs to me that I was driving with the number seven on my car today and that I have seven world championship trophies in my cabinet. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel on claiming his third world title in a row. I’m very proud of Sebastian and really thrilled for him. As early as the first lap, I suddenly found him blocking the track facing the wrong way, but then the two of us both staged great comebacks in the race. His performance also showed that you just have to keep plugging away. Even under these difficult conditions, my final Formula One race was tremendous fun, and I would once again like to thank the team and all my fans for their support over the past years. I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together very much indeed.

Nico Rosberg

That was definitely the longest race of my life today! The start was pretty good, and I was running in the top eight. After the puncture however, there was damage to the floor and I lost a lot of performance. So unfortunately I had no chance to fight back from there. It must have been a fantastic race for the fans here in Interlagos and watching on the TV and I hope they enjoyed the show. Congratulations to Sebastian on the world title which is very well deserved. For myself, I am now looking forward to next year and the chance to attack again. Many thanks to the team for all of their efforts this year which saw our first win together, and we can look forward to making further progress and a better 2013.

Ross Brawn

We saw a very dramatic race today and a fitting finale to a great season for Formula One. From our perspective, the two punctures early on put us in a difficult position with both cars. Nico’s car suffered a lot of damage and that made his race very difficult. Michael’s puncture wasn’t as severe and the team did a good job to recover, with some help from the safety car. Michael showed all of the skills that we know he has today to salvage his race; considered overtaking, good decisions on tire strategy, and he kept the car on the road to bring us home some points. It was a nice way to finish the season and his career with us. In terms of results, his second spell in Formula One hasn’t been as special but it has been so for all of us who have had the privilege of working with him. It has been a real honour for all of the boys and girls at our team, and working alongside Michael gives you a real understanding of why he is so special and has achieved seven world championships. He will be missed and we all wish him the very best for the future. Congratulations to Sebastian on achieving his third world title today, a very impressive achievement.

Norbert Haug

What an incredibly dramatic way to round off a long championship season! Michael and Nico had to make unplanned stops for punctures caused by debris on the track, losing a lot of time in the process. Both cars sustained damage to their underbody as a result, which affected downforce and pushed up lap times, with Nico’s car suffering more than Michael’s. In his final race, Michael mastered the difficult, damp conditions on the track in impressive style, battling his way through to seventh place. It was great to see Michael overcoming all these problems to finish among the points in his last ever Formula One race. We thank Michael not only for his tremendous dedication and his racing achievements for our team, but also for those great personal qualities that he manifested at all times. The three seasons he spent with us will always serve as a model of team play at its best. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing on wrapping up the world championship hat-trick. To become world champion three years in succession is a remarkable feat that has been achieved by only two previous drivers – Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

At the last time Formula One race in the US, McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton, was victorious. It seems not much has change as Hamilton battled Sebastian Vettel and emerged again victorious in the first United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday.

Hamilton started on the dirty side of the grid and came out of the first corner third behind the Red Bulls, Vettel and Mark Webber. But, after passing by Webber on the fourth lap, after a previous attempt that didn’t go as planned, he got to work catching up to Vettel.

Vettel, however, proved a far tougher nut to crack, and after getting the gap down to less than a second, Hamilton began to lose ground just prior to his pit stop on the 20th lap. After a switch to harder Pirelli tire, he managed to close in again, and finally made a move that stuck, using his DRS to pass Vettel down the back straight on the 42nd lap, the Red Bull having been delayed slightly by traffic in the esses earlier in the lap. The German tried all he could to stick with him, but just didn’t quite have the McLaren’s pace, and as Hamilton had discovered, following was a whole lot harder than leading.

Behind them, and after a bit of tactical trickery by Ferrari, another superb drive from Alonso kept the Spaniard in play for the world championship.

Before the start much was made about the state of the track on the left-hand side of the grid, particularly by Hamilton who qualified second. Ferrari were so concerned, with Alonso due to start eighth, that they deliberately broke a seal on Felipe Massa’s gearbox so that he would get a five-place grid penalty that would move Alonso to seventh, on the clean side.

The ploy worked to perfection. Alonso jumped up to fourth behind the Red Bulls and Hamilton, closing out Michael Schumacher in Turn One, and thus immediately put himself in the lowest position he needed, assuming that Vettel won, to keep the title battle open. He rose to third when Webber’s car stopped after 16 laps with alternator failure, and stayed there to the flag, secure in the knowledge that Massa had climbed back up to fourth after his enforced grid penalty and thus had his back. It was a noteworthy run by the Brazilian.

Behind them, Jenson Button hauled his McLaren to fifth after starting on the harder tire and running until the 32nd lap before changing to the mediums. He conquered the Lotuses of Kimi Raikkkonen and Romain Grosjean, both of whom looked strong at one time. The Finn seemed a possible podium contender for a while, while the Frenchman recovered from an early spin and pit stop.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg ran fifth for some time before the Lotuses hit their stride, and stayed in the points to take eighth despite attack from both Williams. Pastor Maldonado rubbed wheels in the first corner with team mate Bruno Senna on the 52nd lap as he squeezed through on the inside for ninth, and they were the final points’ scorers.

It was a poor day for Sauber, as a disappointed Sergio Perez didn’t have the car beneath him to deliver better than 11th place to the thousands of Mexicans who made the trek to Texas, while Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, who ran strongly in fifth place at one stage while running out of sequence in the pit stops, was 12th. Nico Rosberg brought his Mercedes home an uncompetitive 13th ahead of Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber, while Force India’s Paul di Resta clung on after an unhappy race to beat Schumacher home.

Vitaly Petrov led the newbies home in his Caterham, as Heikki Kovalainen very narrowly fended off Timo Glock’s Marussia for 18th and Charles Pic brought his MR01 home next. Both HRTs finished, with Pedro de la Rosa leading Narain Karthikeyan throughout.

Besides Webber, the only non-finisher was Vergne after damaging his Toro Rosso’s front suspension again during a fight with the Mercedes.

Vettel now leads Alonso with 273 to 260 points, and 25 is up for grabs in Brazil. And though Red Bull lost the race, Vettel’s second place was sufficient to clinch them the constructors’ championship for a third successive year.

So, what did the Mercedes AMG Petronas team have to say about the U.S. race?

Nico Rosberg

It was a difficult weekend for us and unfortunately we weren’t able to score any points today. However we have learned some important lessons for next year and that’s what counts at the moment. I hope we can be more successful next year here in Austin as I have enjoyed our visit. The track, the people and the city are absolutely fantastic. So I look forward to coming back here in 2013 and we will work hard next weekend to finish the season on a positive note.

Michael Schumacher

I can’t find any words other than ironic ones for the race today – there was a lot of action around me but unfortunately in the wrong direction. To say that the race was a real struggle would be an understatement. I couldn’t get any grip from my first set of tires, and there must have been some kind of damage for them to perform so badly. We had to change our strategy to two stops which then compromised our race even further. All in all, it was much worse than expected today, especially considering that things did not look that bad yesterday and Friday.

Michael Schumacher at the Circuit of the Americas

Ross Brawn

After a good qualifying result, Michael’s first set of tires performed very badly today and we decided to convert his strategy to a two-stop race. Once we got onto another set, the lap times came back up to what we expected but having such a poor first stint made it very difficult for him. Nico started a long way back and conserved his tires well as we knew that we wanted to make a one-stop strategy work. He actually had a pretty good race with respectable lap times, and if we had managed to qualify better, he would have been in a reasonable place. Whilst it is disappointing not to score any points, we have learnt a lot about the car and tires this weekend which will be useful for the future. Despite our result, this has been a great weekend for Formula One in the United States, and it was very pleasing to see so many fans here for the first race in Austin. Our thanks for the organisers for putting on such a good show.

Norbert Haug

Nico’s speed was not too bad but from 17th on the grid, he could not improve further. His one-stop strategy worked as planned which was not the case for Michael who, after a respectable place on the grid, did not have the speed in his car to defend his position after the start of the race. The team brought him in early and switched to a two-stop strategy. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for winning the inaugural Grand Prix here at this great race track, after having won the last United States Grand Prix in 2007. Thank you to the organisers for making this race happen here in Austin. We will come back stronger next year. Congratulations to Red Bull Racing for securing the Constructors’ World Championship today.

The wait is over, Formula One returns is returning to the United States next week with the second to last race of the 2012 Formula One World Championship. The 2012 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix will be held at the first purpose-built circuit in the US, the Circuit of the Americas, on Sunday, November 18.  The Austin, Texas based circuit has a varied layout with a high-speed twisting section in the first sector, elevation changes with an uphill approach to the crest of turn one, and a slower, more technical section at the end of the lap.  It will be one of the more challenging tracks of the season and should prove to be an exciting race.

• Austin is the 10th venue for a F1 race in the USA (after Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Phoenix, Riverside, Sebring and Watkins Glen)

• Simulations suggest the circuit has more corners over 250 kph than Spa and more below 100 kph than Hungary

• A qualifying lap time of around 97 seconds (1:37) and a race lap time around 102 seconds (1:42) are predicted

Michael Schumacher

My wife and I have been big fans of the USA, and also of Texas, for many years so I’m particularly looking forward to the race in Austin. I’m really excited to see what kind of track we will find and to see if the American fans will embrace our sport. From the pictures and layouts of the circuit that I have already seen, everything looks very good. I think Formula One will put on a good show at the Circuit of the Americas, and naturally I will be giving my best to be a part of that.

Nico Rosberg

It will be very exciting to race in the USA again and I’m really looking forward to our visit. The United States Grand Prix should be a great event and a real show for our American fans. I can’t wait to drive on the Circuit of the Americas track for the first time in practice next Friday. I spent some time practising on the simulator at the factory this week so I know what to expect and, as a team, we are as well prepared as we can be from our simulator work. The track looks cool with a great double S section to begin the lap and it looks like there should be some good opportunities for overtaking. We really want to end the season on a positive note so we’ll be aiming to score some points next weekend.

Ross Brawn

We are very pleased to see Formula One returning to the United States for the first time since 2007, and the team are looking forward to visiting Austin and the Circuit of the Americas next week. Visiting a new circuit for the first time is always a significant engineering challenge, and we have been working hard at the factory to prepare for the weekend. The team have done over five race distances on the simulator to assess the layout, gradients and G forces. The track layout looks quite varied with a high-speed twisting section in the first sector, elevation changes with an uphill approach to the crest of turn one, and a slower, more technical section at the end of the lap. Nico was in the sim yesterday to complete our preparations and his feedback, along with that of our other sim drivers, will be used to prepare for the Friday practice sessions next week.

Norbert Haug

It is five years since we last visited the United States and there is a great sense of anticipation in Formula One to be returning to a custom-built, state of the art venue at the Circuit of the Americas. A new circuit offers a new challenge for the teams. The circuit will provide a real test for the cars and drivers: it’s not a bland venue but rather a demanding layout with significant elevation changes. It contains an extremely demanding first sector, with a challenging series of high-speed corners and, throughout the lap, you can feel echoes of other great tracks around the world. Our sport has always enjoyed a very dedicated audience in the USA; their knowledge is impressive and they have always given Formula One a very warm welcome. It is an important step to return to the United States for our sport and its image. The USA is the biggest market for Mercedes-Benz cars in terms of sales and a race in the USA belongs in a world championship. The circuit looks to have exactly the right ingredients for an exciting weekend and we look forward to delivering a great race for the American fans.

Photos Via: Circuit of the Americas

Finishing just outside the points, Michael Schumacher had a dramatic race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday finishing in 11th place. Team-mate Nico Rosberg retired following an incident with Romain and then a collision with Narain.

The winner of the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was former McLaren Mercedes driver, Kimi Raikkonen, driving for Lotus. He held Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso at bay in a to score Lotus’s long overdue first 2012 victory in great style. But a blend of great driving, superb strategic work and pure luck with safety-car interventions saw Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel retain his championship lead with a strong third place after starting on medium tyres from the pit lane.

For the first 19 laps it seemed like Lewis Hamilton’s race, even after an early safety car between Laps Nine and 14 after Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg flew spectacularly over the rear of Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT on Lap Nine as the Indian was slowing with hydraulic problems. Hamilton soon pulled away again at the restart, and was 3.4s ahead of fast-starting Raikkonen when his McLaren lost power and he pulled off at Turn 14 on the 20th lap.

The first safety car helped Vettel to recover from his pit-lane start and a brush with Williams’ Bruno Senna which damaged his front wing. There was an unusual moment when Daniel Ricciardo seemed to brake suddenly whilst behind the safety car and in avoiding his Red Bull stable mate, Vettel further damaged his wing on a DRS marker board by the side of the track. A subsequent early pit stop for used soft tyres and a new nose and wing on the 13th lap dropped him back again.

At that stage the focus was on the way Raikkonen pulled away as Alonso put increasing pressure on Williams’ Pastor Maldonado for second place as Red Bull’s Mark Webber and McLaren’s Jenson Button gave chase. Vettel was 12th.

Maldonado succumbed to Alonso on Lap 21, but on the 23rd lap Webber was involved in an incident when trying to pass Maldonado which saw the Red Bull half spin and lose places to Button, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Sauber’s Sergio Perez. Three laps later Webber had an incident with Massa, which saw the Brazilian spin.

By the time the pit stops had been made, from the 27th to the 31st laps, Raikkonen was only 1.4s clear of Vettel, and it had now became a matter of whether he could get through the remaining 23 laps on the same rubber as Alonso and Button battled in his wake.

The answer was that he couldn’t, but a superbly timed stop on the 37th lap saw him take a set of fresh softs and drop only to fourth, crucially keeping ahead of a frenetic battle between Grosjean (who had been hit early on by Rosberg), Paul di Resta (who had been involved in a first-corner collision with Force India team mate Nico Hulkenberg and Senna), a recovering Perez and Webber.

Di Resta and Grosjean had both had to pit on the first lap, and now the Scot found a way by the Frenchman on the 38th lap, but as Perez attempted to pass both of them he hit Grosjean and spun, and Webber was left with nowhere to go. The safety car was deployed again from Laps 38 to 42 as the wreckage of Grosjean’s and Webber’s cars was cleared away, and Perez was subsequently given a 10s stop and go penalty.

In the closing laps Raikkonen controlled things perfectly, as Alonso launched a massive challenge for the victory with a flurry of fastest laps which reduced the gap from 3.2s on the 46th lap to 0.8s by the finish. Vettel went from being 29.8s down on Raikkonen to just 3.3s thanks to the second safety car deployment, after which he hounded Button until he was able to slip by on the 52nd lap before slashing the deficit to his two title rivals.

Button took a lonely fourth, with Maldonado surviving all his dramas to bring home 10 crucial points for Williams as Kamui Kobayashi made the best of a relatively quiet race to take sixth for Sauber. Massa was seventh, chased hard by Senna and Di Resta, as Ricciardo took the final point for Toro Rosso after overhauling team mate Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman was also overtaken by Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, whose chance of points was ended late on by a right-rear puncture.

Heikki Kovalainen had a strong run for Caterham to 13th ahead of Marussia’s Timo Glock, who just fended off Perez by two-tenths of a second by the flag, with Vitaly Petrov taking 16th for Caterham ahead of HRT survivor Pedro de la Rosa.

The result leaves Vettel 10 points ahead of Alonso, 255 to 245, with Raikkonen retaining third with 198. In the constructors’ stakes, Red Bull have 422 points from Ferrari on 340, McLaren on 318 and Lotus on 288.

Michael Schumacher

Unfortunately we have to say that again we suffered bad luck today. Due to the puncture I had to do another pit stop very late in the race which lost me a points scoring position. Of course this is part of the game and you cannot do anything about it but it was a real pity as we had reasonable pace and could have taken some points. Towards the end of the race I was hoping to close the gap to the top ten, and we were making good progress, but it just didn’t work out.

Nico Rosberg

My car felt competitive today so it’s a real shame not to have finished the race and scored some points. Unfortunately that chance was gone after the first lap incident with Romain, after which I had to come into the pits for a new nose. Then there was the accident which put me out of the race. Narain told me that his steering broke and he needed to brake which I didn’t expect in that high-speed corner. There was no time for me to react, and I’m very thankful that we are both fine. I went to the medical centre for a precautionary check but everything is good. I will look forward now and hope for a better two races to end the season.

Ross Brawn

We had a reasonable car today so it’s disappointing not to have picked up any points. Nico’s front wing was damaged on the first lap which meant an early stop but he was going well after that. His accident on lap seven was fairly dramatic and we obviously need to have a look at what happened. Karthikeyan reported a problem with his car and certainly it looked very unusual. Thankfully both drivers were fine afterwards. Michael drove a strong race and we had a good strategy but unfortunately he picked up a puncture in the debris left from the various accidents which made the end of his race very difficult. The dice just aren’t falling for us at the moment but the positive is that the car was better this weekend so we just need to keep working hard.

Norbert Haug

Nico’s race lasted only seven laps today, and thankfully his accident ended without any serious consequences. Before that, his front wing change on the first lap after a collision with another car put him back to the back of the field. Michael was in seventh position when he picked up debris, and subsequently a puncture, during the safety car period which dropped him back to 11th place after his additional pit stop which is where he finished.

Nico Rosberg finished the Indian Grand Prix in 11th place today with team-mate Michael Schumacher classified in P22. The race was dominated by Red Bull Racing-Renault and McLaren Mercedes with both team-members finishing in the top five.  Sebastian Vettel came in first followed closely by Fernando Alonso, trailing by 9.4 seconds.  Third place was takien by Mark WEbber, Lewis Hamilton fourth and Jenson Button in fifth.

• Nico completed a one-stop strategy, running soft then hard tires, and made his pit stop on lap 27

• Michael suffered a first lap right-rear puncture after contact with another car at the first corner

• He made two stops on laps one and 33, starting the race on the hard tyre, then running two sets of soft tires

Nico Rosberg

Finishing just outside of the points is always tough, and it was a hard afternoon for us out there. Starting with new tires, I hoped to be able to make up a couple of places but we just didn’t have the pace so I had to keep fighting off the cars coming from behind me. It’s a difficult time for us but we are learning for next year so that’s one positive thing.

Michael Schumacher

That was a pretty unsatisfactory race today. It was effectively over just after the start; I lost so much time getting back to the pits with the puncture that any hope of scoring points was gone. In the meantime, the pace was pretty good but I was too far behind to make up more than a few positions. In the end, we had to retire the car for technical reasons.

Ross Brawn

We are racing in a closely-matched field this season, where a few tenths of a second in lap time make a significant difference to your position. At the moment, we are on the wrong end of those precious tenths and that once again left us outside the points this afternoon. Nico made his one-stop strategy work well, looking after his tires so that he still had reasonable speed at the end of both stints, but otherwise he had a relatively quiet race. As for Michael, the contact at the first corner made it an uphill battle for him from turn two onwards, and left him at the back of the field. However, by running two stints on the option tyre, he was able to show respectable speed at some points of the race. We brought his car in before the end of the race as a precaution after we became aware of some gearbox concerns.

Norbert Haug

Michael suffered contact on the opening lap, which caused a puncture and put him to the back of the field after his pit stop. He retired the car with a gearbox issue five laps before the finish. As for Nico, his car didn’t have the speed to score points after starting from 10th position. We have a lot of work to do and everybody in the team is well aware of it.

After a promising free practice on Friday, Mercedes AMG Petronas driver, Michael Schumacher, finished the Korean Grand Prix in 13th place Sunday after starting 10th on the grid. Team-mate Nico Rosberg was forced to retire on lap two after being hit in an incident between Jenson Button’s McLaren and Kamui Kobayashi.

• Michael completed a two-stop strategy of used option/new prime/new prime, stopping on laps 13 and 32
• Nico’s car was hit from behind by Kamui Kobayashi on lap one, under braking for turn three
• Nico was forced to retire the car because of the resulting damage on the second lap of the race

Weather	Cool
Temperatures	Air: 21-22°C	Track: 23-27°C

Michael Schumacher

There are some races where nothing comes together and which you simply have to move on from straight away. This was one of them. We didn’t manage to get the tyres working properly over the race distance, which made for inconsistent lap times, and accounted for our step back in performance. So we will write this one off, look forward and hope that we will be able to get back on the front foot again in the upcoming races.

2012 Korean Grand Prix Results Michael Schumacher

Nico Rosberg

Unfortunately this has been the second poor weekend in a row for me, and it’s very frustrating to be taken out twice in the first corners of the race. Kobayashi hit me from behind today and that was my race over. The one small positive to be taken from the weekend is our qualifying performance which was a small step forward. Now I’ll look forward to India and hope for a bit more luck there.

2012 Korean Grand Prix Results Nico Rosberg Driving

Ross Brawn

It was a difficult race for us today. Nico was hit by Kobayashi on the first lap for the second race in succession, and to lose him again through the error of another driver was extremely disappointing. Michael did all that he could today but we struggled to keep the tyres up to temperature. There were parts of the race where the tyres were working properly and we were more competitive, but too many periods where we struggled. We need to look at how we can improve that situation, and we will keep working hard to make progress at the final four races.

Norbert Haug

Nico was once again the victim of a crash on lap one when a competitor drove into his car. This damaged the radiator which put an end to his race and, as in Japan, it was through no fault of his own. At no stage did Michael’s car produce the grip we had anticipated. We need to quickly put this race behind us but not before a thorough analysis, with an understanding of why we got it wrong today.

The Korean Grand Prix weekend got underway Friday at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam. Overall results were as expected. Red Bull looked strong, both Vettel and Webber are at the top of the time sheet. But, it won’t have escaped the attention of Sebastian Vettel that championship leader Fernando Alonso and hisFerrari were in the top three in both Yeongam sessions. After two sessions, Schumacher stayed close to teh leaders landing him in fifth position with teeammate not far behind in position 7.

Here is a rundown of the free practice team by team.

Red Bull

• Sebastian Vettel, 1m 40.088s, P5/1m 38.832s, P1
• Mark Webber, 1m 39.575s, P3/1m 38.864s, P2

Both drivers were very happy with the performance of their cars as they battled for fastest time in the afternoon. It seems that the rear-end changes introduced in Singapore have put the Red Bull RB8 on top again.

Ferrari

• Fernando Alonso, 1m 39.450s, P2/1m 39.160s, P3
• Felipe Massa, 1m 39.854s, P4/1m 39.422s, P6

Alonso said that Ferrari just got on with their programme all day without worrying what anyone else was up to. This included the usual Friday work and evaluation of some small update parts. Massa had a KERS problem after setting the initial pace in FP2, but generally sounded optimistic after his day’s work.

McLaren

• Jenson Button, 1m 40.480s, P10/1m 39.219s, P4
• Lewis Hamilton, 1m 39.148s, P1/1m 39.717s, P8

Hamilton was very happy with his car in FP1 when he was fastest, but said he suffered from too much understeer in the afternoon as he struggled to go faster on the super-soft option Pirelli. Button said he feared that Red Bull’s four-tenths advantage was likely to stay for qualifying. There’s some set-up refinement work to be done overnight here.

Mercedes

• Michael Schumacher, 1m 40.221s, P6/1m 39.330s, P5
• Nico Rosberg, 1m 40.396s, P7/1m 39.584s, P7

Overall, a decent day for both drivers on a circuit to which the MGP W03 seems better suited.

Force India

• Nico Hulkenberg (pm only), 1m 39.739s, P9
• Paul di Resta, 1m 40.440s, P9/1m 40.112s, P13
• Jules Bianchi (am only), 1m 41.140s, P13

All three drivers said they were reasonably happy with what they achieved during the day, though Di Resta insisted that his laps weren’t fully representative as he met traffic on both fast runs.

Lotus

• Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 40.929s, P11/1m 39.839s, P10
• Romain Grosjean, 1m 40.422s, P8/1m 39.957s, P11

Both drivers said their E20s were a handful, but the data indicated that the new aero package complete with Coanda-effect exhausts was behaving as expected so it will be retained for tomorrow.

Williams

• Bruno Senna (pm only), 1m 40.089s, P12
• Pastor Maldonado, 1m 41.048s, P12/1m 41.200s, P18
• Valtteri Bottas (am only), 1m 42.027s, P18

Senna’s was a good performance considering that he had to hand his car to Bottas in FP1, but Maldonado was hampered by an undisclosed car problem throughout FP2, so overall it wasn’t a particularly representative day for Williams.

Sauber

• Kamui Kobayashi, 1m 41.220s, P14/1m 40.445s, P14
• Sergio Perez 1m 41.514s, P15/1m 40.745s, P15

Sauber didn’t look as strong as they were in Suzuka, as Kobayashi struggled with poor balance on low fuel loads and Perez’s car coasted to a halt in FP2 with an engine management problem. The car was later retrieved, but the team weren’t able to get the Mexican back out before the session ended.

Toro Rosso

• Jean-Eric Vergne, 1m 42.021s, P17/1m 40.789s, P16

Daniel Ricciardo, 1m 41.596s, P16/1m 40.997s, P17

Not too bad a first day for either driver, as Vergne celebrated his first anniversary as he started running the Friday morning sessions here last year, but Ricciardo said he met traffic on his two best laps on the super softs.

Caterham

• Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 42.104s, P19/1m 41.602s, P19
• Vitaly Petrov (pm only), 1m 43.067s, P22
• Giedo van der Garde (am only), 1m 42.820s, P22

Kovalainen said he was very happy initially with his CT01’s balance, but in the afternoon he went off track and dislodged a couple of bolts in the cockpit which obliged the team to make a temporary fix to the seat so they could complete the program. Petrov inevitably struggled a bit after losing this morning session, when Van der Garde again ran and did a decent job to end up within seven-tenths of Kovalainen. The Russian’s programme was also interrupted when he sustained a puncture on his first set of super softs.

Marussia

• Timo Glock, 1m 42.175s, P20/1m 42.596s, P20
• Charles Pic, 1m 42.706s, P21/1m 43.066s, P21

After the upturn in speed in Suzuka, Glock was disappointed to find that his car’s rear-end nervousness had returned, making it a tough day in the office. Pic had similar problems, and will also incur a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change.

HRT

• Narain Karthikeyan (pm only), 1m 43.869s, P23
• Pedro de la Rosa, 1m 44.517s, P23/1m 44.533s, P24
• Dani Clos (am only) 1m 45.735s, P24

Nothing major to report here, in what De la Rosa described as a ‘classic Friday’ as he learned the track. Karthikeyan lost the morning as Clos took his seat. The young Spaniard had a spin but otherwise again did a decent job.

A more in-depth look at the Mercedes AMG Petronas Team

Mercedes driver, Michael Schumacher, finished the Japanese Grand Prix in 11th place this afternoon, having started from 23rd on the grid. Team-mate Nico Rosberg was forced to retire on the first lap after being hit by another car.

• Michael ran a two-stop prime/option/option strategy, stopping on laps 17 and 36
• His strategy made full use of his two available new sets of option tyres to gain 12 positions
• In the final stint, he caught the cars ahead of him at over a second a lap but was unable to pass for P10
• Nico was eliminated by a collision in turn two when he was hit from behind by Bruno Senna’s Williams

Michael Schumacher

I have mixed feelings after the race here in Japan, because it’s obviously unfortunate to come so close to scoring points and not manage it, after a race which went better than we expected. In the final laps, I had a nice and interesting battle with Ricciardo, but in the end I couldn’t get past him because the Toro Rosso was so quick on the straights. That’s why we have to say we couldn’t have got much more out of it today. Now let’s see how things go in Korea.

Nico Rosberg

I had a good start to the race but unfortunately it ended fairly quickly today. In the first corner Grosjean spun into Webber and that also led to my accident. I began to brake but Senna crashed into me from behind which destroyed my rear tyre and meant that I had to retire. It’s a shame as I felt very comfortable with my car on the installation lap, and I was confident that we could score some decent points. I’ll now hope for a better weekend in Korea.

Ross Brawn

From where he started today, Michael drove a strong race, and it’s a shame that he didn’t get some points for his efforts. However starting from 23rd on the grid made that just too much of a challenge, despite a very good strategy and encouraging pace from the car in the lower temperatures. The accident which caused Nico’s retirement was a great shame as the car was in good shape and he could have scored decent points if he hadn’t been taken out. There were some encouraging signs in the race and we will take heart from that as we continue to work on improving the car.

Norbert Haug

A good performance and a good drive from Michael during the race, which saw us posting good lap times for the first time this weekend – and Michael setting the sixth fastest lap time around three-quarters of the way through the race. After starting P23 following his ten-place grid penalty, Michael came home in P11, chasing the car ahead during the last seven laps. He caught him quickly, setting better lap times in the final stint, but in the end he unfortunately could not overtake to score the last available point. Nico was eliminated during the first corner crash through no fault of his own, so no points today for him or our team. We are now looking forward to the race next weekend in Korea.

After the news broke last week about Lewis Hamilton replacing Michael Schuamcher on the Mercedes AMG Petronas team, no one could fault Schumacher if he was less then excited for this weeks race in Japan. On the contrary however, Schumaceher is looking forward to Suzuka as it is one of his favorite circuits.

The Japanese Grand Prix, Round 15 of the 2012 Formula One World Championship, takes place on Sunday, October 7 at the 5.807 km figure-of-eight Suzuka circuit.

• The run from pole to the first corner is 545 metres – among the top five values of the season.
• 10 of the circuit’s 18 corners are taken at between 170 kph and 270 kph – including the entire Esses.
• Since the Japanese GP returned to Suzuka in 2009, every race has seen the Safety Car deployed.

Circuit History

One of the greatest tracks used in Formula One today, Japan’s Suzuka circuit is a massive test of car and driver ability. Built by Honda as a test facility in 1962, the track was designed by Dutchman John Hugenholz, the Hermann Tilke of his day. A huge theme park was also constructed at the track, including the famous big wheel which dominates the Suzuka skyline.

In 1987, having hosted various sportscar and F2 races, and having lost out initially to Fuji in the race to host the Japanese Grand Prix, Honda’s influence finally prevailed and the Grand Prix had a new Japanese home. And – 2007/8 aside – at Suzuka the race has stayed ever since, providing the scene for many nail-biting end-of-season deciders, including the infamous collisions involving Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

Suzuka includes some of the F1 calendar’s most challenging corners. Among the drivers’ favourites are the high-speed 130R and the famous Spoon Curve. On top of this the circuit’s figure-of-eight layout makes it unique in Formula One.

Michael Schumacher

My motivation is completely intact after the news last week, especially because Suzuka is one of the season’s highlights for me. I enjoy the circuit – it has sections that challenge you as a driver like almost nowhere else. Then there are the fans: they love motor racing and it is fun to feel their passion. I’m also a big fan of Japanese food, so I’m always happy to travel to this race. Logically, it would also be nice to achieve a sporting highlight this weekend, although my chances are of course very limited because of my grid penalty. But I’ve always approached these things as a challenge.

Nico Rosberg

The last race in Singapore was my best result for a little while and I hope this is the start of an upward trend for me and the team. So I’m looking forward to getting to Japan this week and getting on with the work to get the most out of our new aerodynamic package and upgrades. Suzuka is a very exciting track which is popular with every driver for the interesting corner combinations and unique layout. I also look forward to meeting the Japanese fans again who have such a great passion for the sport and their support is always so enthusiastic.

Ross Brawn

Suzuka is a fantastic racing circuit, and the support that Formula One receives from the Japanese fans every year is so impressive. They really do love the sport and it’s always nice to see their enthusiasm as we arrive at the circuit every morning. The track is a popular one with the drivers for its challenging layout, and Suzuka has seen some very exciting and decisive races over the years. For the team, we are looking forward to having more time to continue the ongoing work to optimise our new developments, and will be working hard to have a good weekend.

Norbert Haug

Suzuka is one of the most demanding race tracks in the world and, if you asked the drivers to rate it between one and ten, I’m sure that the average would be very close to ten. The circuit is a classic: almost every corner is a challenge and the high-speed uphill Esses behind the pits provide a real benchmark for aerodynamic performance. The average lap speed is comparable to Silverstone and the engines spend over two-thirds of the lap distance at full throttle. Engine performance and driveability are important requirements in Suzuka in addition to good aerodynamics.

Mercedes AMG Petronas drier, Nico Rosberg finished the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix in fifth place Sunday, making up five places over his starting position, while teammate Michael Schumacher retired from the race on lap 38.

After scoring a comfortable victory in Singapore, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel jumped into stronger contention for the world championship. Vettel came in first over McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on Sunday.  Paul di Resta finished with a career best fourth place went, ahead of Rosberg, who managed to keep ahead of the Lotuses of Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

UPDATE: Michael Schumacher has been punished by the Singapore stewards for his collision with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne during Sunday’s Marina Bay race. Schumacher receives a 10-place grid penalty for the next round in Japan.  Schumacher and Vergne both retired immediately after the Michael slammed into the back of the Frenchman’s STR7 on the race’s restart following the first safety-car period.  The Japanese Grand Prix takes place at Suzuka from October 5-7.

• Nico followed a two-stop option/prime/prime strategy, stopping on laps 12 and 33

• Michael was following the same strategy until his retirement, and pitted on laps 11 and 33

• Michael retired from the race following a collision with Jean-Eric Vergne at turn 14 on lap 38

Nico Rosberg

Everything worked out well for me this evening for the first time in what feels like a long time! Finishing in fifth place having started in 10th is a pretty decent result and I’m happy to have picked up some good points for myself and the team. It’s also nice to have stayed ahead of the two Lotus cars which I didn’t expect before the race. Saving a fresh set of tires in qualifying yesterday proved to be the right strategy as I had a good start and a strong first stint. Thanks to the team for that and for making the right calls in the race today. Now I’m looking forward to Japan and the opportunity to improve our new package further.

Michael Schumacher

It was obviously a very unfortunate ending to my race this evening when I ran into the car of Vergne who accepted my apology straight afterwards. I am not totally sure why it happened like this; I was braking but the deceleration was not as strong as it usually would be, and I could not avoid running into the car in front of me. We have to find out what has happened. Up until then, I think it would have been possible to get some points this evening.

Ross Brawn

That was a tough race and I am pleased that the team did a pretty good job this evening. Nico had a great race and our strategy worked well for him to gain five places on his starting position. There was evidently some damage to his car following contact on the first lap as the downforce levels looked lower than expected so it was an even better drive from him in the circumstances. Michael’s race was also going well until the incident which caused his retirement. It was an unusual set of circumstances so we will have a careful look at the data and work out what could have happened. Thank you to the team for all of their hard work in very challenging conditions over this weekend. With the updates that we brought to this race, the car has improved, however we are not quite where we want to be yet.

Norbert Haug

That was an exceptionally challenging race this evening. With regard to Nico, he and our team made the best of it. P5 is a respectable result, especially in view of the fact that Nico started five places further back on the grid. He crossed the finishing line ahead of a Red Bull, a Ferrari and both Lotus cars, all teams which are ahead of us in the championship. This was made possible by having a sound strategy and by the first of the two safety car deployments when the team took the correct decision. Michael had the opportunity to claim the position behind Nico, but his accident put paid to that. The team is investigating to see whether there was a problem with his car.

A week ago at Spa, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were all taken out at Turn One. This time around, at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, all three were on the podium after a thrilling Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d’Italia 2012.

As for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg opted for a two stop strategy and finished respectively in sixth and seventh places.

• Michael completed a two-stop strategy, running option/prime/prime, and stopping on laps 15 and 37
• Nico also stopped twice today, running option/prime/prime, and stopping on laps 14 and 38
• Fastest lap for Nico, on the final lap, was the fourth of his career and second of the season
• Sixth win in 13 races for Mercedes-Benz power, and third in a row, with four engines in the top ten

Michael Schumacher

It was a fun race today – although I must admit that, following our performance on Friday, I had secretly hoped we would be able to move up the field. But we had a tricky first stint. After that, everything went really well, we were on the pace and I think we showed a clear upwards trend today. I kind of ran out of laps this afternoon and, if the race had been a bit longer, I’d have been able to battle even further forward. Overall, though, we got everything out of it today. Now we need to keep this trend going – and everybody in the team is working hard on it.

Nico Rosberg

Seventh place is an improvement on my recent finishes so I’m satisfied with that today, although there may have been potential for more. I had no grip on my option tyres in the first stint, which were the same set that gave me problems in Q3. After the first stop, I had very good pace and was able to set a few fastest race laps and move up the field with some nice overtakes. It’s nice to have had a better finish to a race weekend and I’m looking forward to more of the same in Singapore in a couple of weeks.

Ross Brawn

Both our drivers put in strong, aggressive and controlled performances today. We knew that a one-stop strategy was not feasible for us this afternoon, so we went into the race planning to make two stops and knew the drivers would have to race hard to make it work against other cars who were one-stopping. The disappointment today was that both drivers really struggled on their first set of tyres – perhaps because of how we used them in qualifying, running more than one timed lap in Q3, or perhaps another factor, which is something we will have to analyse. We lost all our time in this phase of the race but, thereafter, the performance of both cars looked good. Nico’s fastest lap shows that our level of performance today was reasonable and both he and Michael were consistently among the fastest in the second half of the race. Sixth and seventh places are far from perfect but we can be positive about an exciting race, running the right strategy for our current situation and two great drives from Michael and Nico.

Norbert Haug

Fighting drives from Michael and Nico this afternoon with lots of nice overtaking moves. We didn’t have great pace in the opening stint, running the option tyres we had used in qualifying like everybody in the top ten, but it looked much better after the first stops. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes on three wins in a row – two for Lewis, one for Jenson Button. Our Mercedes engine has taken six wins from 13 races this season, including one for our Silver Arrows team in China. After scoring the most points of any engine in 2009, 2010 and 2011, this confirms the Mercedes V8 as the most successful power plant so far in 2012 as well.

Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix was Michael Schumacher’s 300th Grand Prix, making up six places, he received points by finishing in seventh place. Nico Rosberg also had a good race, moving up from 23rd on the grid to finish in 11th place.

• Michael ran a two-stop option/prime/option strategy, stopping on laps 19 and 35
• He drove the final few laps of the race without sixth gear, having lost it shortly after his second stop
• Nico also completed two stops, using prime/option/option tyres, and stopping on laps 20 and 36

Michael Schumacher

I quite enjoyed my 300th race, and it was good fun out there with all the battles. In the end, you have to be realistic, and getting into the points from where I started is not too bad, even if you obviously hope for more when I was second at one stage. But then, it was more than we had expected. It looked pretty reasonable at the start, and we were following our one-stop strategy. In the end though, it did not quite work out so we decided to go for fresh tires and attack with them. If we had not done that, I might have ended up further back. But then I lost sixth gear and there was no way to attack. We will now have to do that next week in Monza.

Nico Rosberg

It’s been an eventful but disappointing weekend for us, and it’s a shame to have finished just one place outside of the points today. Without the gearbox change and penalty, I probably could have scored some decent points this weekend. I had a good start today and moved up ten positions into the midfield. We were running a one-stop-strategy because I needed to take the risk to move up but it didn’t work out and we had to come in again quite late on. Now I’m looking forward to Monza and we will push hard for a better result there next weekend.

Ross Brawn

It was a very exciting race for Michael, and a great demonstration of his skills in his 300th Grand Prix. Unfortunately we didn’t quite have a quick enough car today to be pushing for the podium. Michael also had a problem with his gearbox towards the end which prevented him from challenging after his second stop. Nico made a strong effort to get into the points and almost succeeded. However with a lack of dry running, and the car not quite set up as he wanted, that was always going to be tough. We will look ahead now to Monza and keep working hard to improve our performance.

Norbert Haug

Two-thirds of the race looked quite promising for Michael who drove a great race on the occasion of his 300th Grand Prix. The plan was to do a one-stop strategy which we then switched to two stops. Michael was in third with 10 laps to go, however the trio behind him were able to go much quicker with fresh tyres than Michael could on his set of primes which were already 26 laps old. He then lost sixth gear, so seventh was the result we could achieve today, and Michael showed some great manoeuvres throughout the race. Nico started 23rd and finished 11th – also for him more was not possible with our current technical package. We now are looking forward to the Italian Grand Prix next week at Monza.

Round 12 of the 2012 Formula One World Championship, and the first race after the sport’s summer break is set to take place at the historic Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium this weekend. The Belgian Grand Prix will be a special weekend for the team, specifically Michael Schumacher, as it marks the 300th Grand Prix for Schumacher and the circuit where he made his debut in 1991.

For those of you unfamiliar with the track, Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps circuit is among the most historic on the Formula One calendar, having hosted a (non-championship) Grand Prix as long ago as 1924, and remains one of the most popular venues with drivers and fans alike.

Run on narrow public roads, the original Spa layout was an amazing 14.9 kilometres long and notoriously dangerous. The lap distance was reduced slightly over the years, with some corners eased, but when the ‘old’ circuit staged its final Grand Prix in 1970 it still measured just over 14 kilometres and remained staggeringly quick – Chris Amon set that year’s fastest lap at an average speed of just under 245 km/h.

Spa did not return to the calendar until 1983 and then in drastically revised form, with lap distance cut to 4.3 miles.

Track Facts:

• The first and third sectors include straights where the cars exceed 315 kph, the second features ten of the 19 corners

• The full throttle period from T1 to T5, including Eau Rouge, is the longest of the season and lasts over 23 seconds

• Four of the last ten races at Spa have been won from pole position and a total of seven of ten from the front row

• The Safety Car has been deployed at least once in the past three Belgian Grands Prix and in six of the last ten races

Jordan's Bertrand Cachot's replacement driver Michael Schumacher, qualified 7th for his first race at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa on August 25, 1991

Michael Schumacher

Spa is like my living room; for me, it´s clearly the number one race track in the world. It´s uncanny how I always seem to have special moments there – my debut, my first win, a world championship victory and many great races. The fact that I will also take part in my 300th Grand Prix at Spa was somehow almost inevitable and we will have to celebrate it in the right way. I´m proud to be just the second driver in the history of the sport to reach this milestone and there´s no question that we are looking to have a particularly nice weekend. We delivered a good performance in Spa last year; I´ll be doing everything possible to drive a strong race.

Nico Rosberg
I always look forward to racing at Spa; it’s one of the highlights of the season and definitely one of my favourite tracks. The circuit itself is outstanding, with of course the most exciting corner of the calendar in Eau Rouge. It’s been nice to have a break over the last month and for everyone at the team to have some time to relax with their families, but we’re all looking forward to the action starting again in the second half of the season. There’s a lot of hard work ahead to make sure we are competing where we want to be and challenging towards the front of the field.

Ross Brawn
The summer break has given everyone at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth some time to relax and recharge the batteries before the intense second half of the season begins. Although there have only been a few working days to make improvements around the shutdown period, we have been working hard towards our aim of an improved performance in the second half of the season. Spa is one of the real classic circuits which is much loved by drivers, engineers and the fans. It’s a great circuit to watch the cars, and you’re almost guaranteed an exciting weekend with varied weather thrown into the mix. For the second year in succession, Spa will be a special occasion for Michael and the team as we follow his 20th anniversary last year by celebrating his 300th Grand Prix this time around. It is a fantastic achievement which has so far only been matched by one other driver, and we look forward to celebrating with him, and hopefully a strong weekend.

Norbert Haug
Spa is a traditional circuit that sets the drivers and teams big challenges, and demands a complete range of performance from both the chassis and the engine. On a qualifying lap, the engines spend 23 seconds and nearly two kilometres at full throttle between La Source hairpin and turn five at Les Combes – the highest value of the season. On the other hand, the second sector contains ten of the circuit´s 19 corners, so good levels of medium and high-speed downforce are required. Experience shows that the typical Ardennes weather almost inevitably plays a role during the weekend and, when it does, the circuit usually ranges from damp to very wet. Around the two-week summer shutdown that every team observed, our team has been hard at work since the last race in Hungary in order to prepare as well as possible for Spa. Spa 2012 is also a special race for our team because Michael will take part in his 300th Grand Prix weekend. In 1991, Michael started his first race in Spa; in 1992, he won the first of 91 victories so far in Spa; and last year, on the 20th anniversary of his first start, he finished in fifth position after starting last on the grid. Everybody in our team will be working in a focused way to help Nico and Michael score the best possible results next weekend.

It was a tough weekend for Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, as Nico Rosberg finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in 10th place.   Rosberg did, however, manage to move up three spots from his less than ideal starting position – one of the few positives on the day.

Michael Schumacher fared far worse, retiring from the race after 58  laps.  His troubles began before the race began, when Schumacher switched his engine off during the yellow lights when he noticed experienced very high engine temps.  He subsequently started the race from the pits, then picked up a penalty, then suffered from a tire puncture.  All of this, paired with ongoing engine temperature problems, led Michael to retire with 11 laps left, to avoid any engine damage that could impact the next race.

Hopefully the next race at Spa will see different results for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team.

As for the results, Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren took the top spot, followed by Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

Mercedes AMG Petronas driver, Michael Schumacher, started the 2012 German grand prix 3rd on the grid and finished the race 28.9 seconds behind the winner, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso for a 7th place finish. Thanks in part to a good strategy and impeccable driving, Nico Rosberg, who started in 21st, finished the race in 10th.  Still landing him in points.  The winners of the 2012 Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland were Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Mercedes’ Jenson Buton and Lotus-Renault Kimi Raikkonen.

• Michael made three pit stops this afternoon on laps 14, 36 and 52, running option/option/prime/option

• Nico also ran a three-stop strategy, stopping on laps 12, 32 and 50 and choosing prime/option/option/option

• With fresh tyres in the final laps, Michael set the team’s second fastest lap in three races in 1:18.725

Michael Schumacher

There are nicer ways to finish a home race than falling back from third to seventh place. I squeezed everything I could out of the car but, unfortunately, that’s everything we could manage today. It’s a pity because I would have loved to have given something more to all our Mercedes-Benz colleagues who were supporting us today. Before this weekend, we expected to be racing between P5 and P7, and of course fifth place would have been the better option, but seventh was our maximum in these circumstances. I got a decent start and the short battle with Sebastian was fun. After that, unfortunately, there weren’t too many highlights, apart from setting the fastest lap, perhaps. However, we couldn’t maintain that pace for very long. Now we have to look forwards and do our maximum at the next race.

Nico Rosberg

It feels ok to have scored one point today after such a bad qualifying yesterday and starting right at the back. We had a good strategy and I had great fun out there at times overtaking so many people to move from 21st to 10th place. Some of the guys I had to overtake a couple of times and there were some nice manoeuvres. Thanks to our fans here in Hockenheim for their fantastic support, even though the weekend didn’t really run to plan. Now I look forward to Budapest in just seven days and hope for a better weekend, and we will keep working very hard towards this.

Ross Brawn

We ran the race as well as we could today, in the knowledge that we would have to make three pit stops. Some of our rivals on two-stop strategies faded towards the end but the drop-off was not sufficient for our drivers to be able to take advantage on fresher tyres. Michael and Nico put in consistent performances, pulled off good overtaking moves and we delivered six clean pit stops. Our strategy enabled Nico to climb eleven positions from his starting place, while Michael finished in seventh place for the second time in two weeks. We made the right decisions this afternoon but, after 67 laps, Michael found himself 29 seconds behind the winner. That shows we need to find more pace from the car.

Norbert Haug

Of course it is not pleasant starting third and coming home seventh. We were convinced that a three-stop strategy would be the fastest race for us, and we will evaluate whether a two-stop strategy could have brought us more. In any case, a podium was out of reach for us today and we certainly need further improvements. Nico put in a great drive, gaining 11 places from 21st to 10th. Like in Silverstone, our best-placed car came home roughly 30 seconds behind the winner, so we are missing about half a second per lap. We are now looking forward to doing a better job next weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Round 10 of the 2012 Formula One World Championship marks the second home race in succession, for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team. The German Grand Prix takes place on Sunday, July 22 at the Hockenheimring which is just 100kms from the Daimler and Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart. The British Grand Prix earlier this month at Silverstone was only 8 miles from the team’s factory

• The 2012 German Grand Prix will be the 33rd held at Hockenheim; Mercedes-Benz power has won twice, in 1998 & 2008
• This year´s race marks the tenth anniversary of the circuit´s redesign and the construction of the Mercedes Grandstand
• The Drag Reduction System can be deployed for 59% of the lap in qualifying – the fourth highest value of the season
• In seven races over the past ten years at Hockenheim, the Safety Car has been deployed on just two occasion

History of Hockenheim

When war broke out the construction was halted and in the post-war Germany the Nurburgring became the venue for Formula One, with Hockenheim hosting a few smaller events. When a plan to build an Autobahn through the circuit was approved, the government supplied Hockenheim with a large sum by way of compensation. This money was used to build a new circuit, the now famous Hockenheim circuit which cut through the forest before looping into the wonderful stadium section around which large grandstands were erected.

In 1968 Hockenheim hit the headlines when Jim Clark was killed there in an F2 race. Nevertheless, Formula One came to the track in 1970 as the Nurburgring was quickly becoming outdated. Once the Nurburgring had been updated however the sport returned there, leaving Hockenheim with national and F2 events.

In 1976, Niki Lauda suffered horrific burns at the Nurburgring and from that point on Hockenheim became the home of the German Grand Prix. In 1980 Patrick Depailler was killed in testing at the track, and a chicane was put in to break up the fast Ostkurve. Didier Pironi suffered terrible injuries to his legs in an accident in 1982, though Patrick Tambay brought the Ferrari team some consolation with a win that weekend.

Ever since the debut of Michael Schumacher, the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim has been one of the most atmospheric races of the season, the noise in the stadium section being quite deafening at times. In 2002 the long runs through the forest were done away with and the layout of the track was heavily modified. Despite arguments that it had lost some of its character, the first race at the new track, in 2002, was deemed a great success and has remained a regular feature on the Formula One calendar ever since.

Michael Schumacher

“People often ask me whether there is any such thing as a home advantage in such an international sport as ours and my answer is: perhaps not a home advantage, but certainly a home-race feeling. As a German driver, you naturally have a different sense of excitement when you arrive at the German Grand Prix and know that all the spectators in the grandstands are supporting you. That makes you proud, and always boosts your motivation even higher. This year is the first time that our Mercedes works team has been capable of racing right at the front, and because of that, we´re hoping for lots of support from the fans and to reward them with our performance. Hopefully we will see a lot of Mercedes colleagues in the grandstands, and we want to do particularly well for them. We have set ourselves the clear target of giving everybody a reason to celebrate next weekend.”

Nico Rosberg

“I am really looking forward to our second home Grand Prix next week. We will start the weekend with visits to our factory for the new A-Class and B-Class in Rastatt, AMG in Affalterbach and the FOTA Fan Forum in Stuttgart; it will be great to see so many colleagues from Mercedes-Benz, and also to spend some time with the fans before the weekend gets really busy! Hockenheim is always very special for us, and especially for me. I was born in Wiesbaden, near Hockenheim, and I have really good memories of the previous Hockenheim races. Before my Formula One career, I won quite often at this circuit, and I will never forget my father´s last DTM race in 1995. I joined him on the roof of his car driving through the Motodrom – and that was the moment when I thought to myself “How cool is that?!” and decided to become a racing driver like him. I will be pushing really hard to perform well in front of our fans in the Mercedes Grandstand, so we can hopefully celebrate a good result together. I think our car should suit this track much better than Silverstone. Hockenheim has long straights and short corners, which will be good for the Silver Arrow.”

Ross Brawn

“The German Grand Prix will be our second home race in two weeks following the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last weekend, and we are looking forward to racing in front of our home fans and Mercedes-Benz colleagues once again. As the Mercedes-Benz works team, the weekend is always a special one for our team. Our performance has been up and down recently, ranging from podiums to lower points finishes, and we need to work hard to improve our level of consistency and ability to challenge at the front of the field. The Hockenheim layout should be more suited to the F1 W03 than the high-speed Silverstone layout, and we are bringing some further improvements to the car which should help our performance. It would be very special to achieve a good result in Germany, so we will be working hard to achieve just that.”

Norbert Haug

“The German Grand Prix, in the country where the automobile was born, is a highlight of every Formula One season and especially so for our Silver Arrows works team. Following the race in Silverstone two weeks ago, this is our second consecutive home Grand Prix – the Daimler head office and Mercedes headquarters in Stuttgart are located around 100 km from the circuit. The Mercedes Grandstand, which gives the best views of some of the most interesting parts of the circuit, marks its tenth anniversary this year and will once again offer many special attractions. One highlight will be the opportunity for all visitors to Hockenheim to test drive the brand new A-Class for the first time in our Experience World.

“Hockenheim sets quite a different challenge to Silverstone. The circuit has just two very high-speed corners and the majority are medium-speed. Good braking stability and excellent traction are required in the Spitzkehre at the far end of the circuit, which then leads into the spectacular sequence in front of the Mercedes Grandstand. Following its introduction last year, DRS is being used at this circuit for the first time and it can be deployed for over half the lap in qualifying. What´s more, it is certain to further increase the number of overtaking moves in the race, which will be good for the fans and help make the race even more exciting.

“This year, we are celebrating 111 years of Mercedes Motorsport at the German Grand Prix. This impressive figure has special meaning; Nico’s victory in China this year came in his 111th Formula One race and was also the 111th Grand Prix win for Mercedes since 1901. In Hockenheim, our team will be working hard to deliver a similar level of performance to that we have seen this year with Nico’s win in China three months ago, his second place a month later in Monaco and Michael’s podium finish two races ago in Valencia.”

Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Michael Schumacher finished the British Grand Prix in seventh place Sunday with teammate Nico Rosberg coming home in 15th.  Their attention will now turn to Hockenheim, their next home circuit, where things should look better in any case.

• Michael ran a two-stop strategy, running option/prime/prime, stopping on laps 12 and 34
• Nico also made two stops, running prime/prime/option, with stops on laps 15 and 37

At the end of an exciting European Grand Prix in Valencia, Michael Schumacher stood on the podium with Fernando Alonso (1st) and Kimi Räikkönen (2nd) after finishing in third place Sunday. Team-mate Nico Rosberg finished in sixth place after jumping up from 13th with ten laps left. Sunday’s finish marked the 155th podium finish of Schumacher’s career and his first podium finish since the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.

Shumacher and Rosberg both made two pit stops with Michael stopping on laps 19 and 41, and Nico on laps 20 and 46. So far this season, Nico has scored 75 points in six races, starting with his win and first points in China, the second highest total after Fernando Alonso (76).

Michael Schumacher

“Wow, I did not even think of getting on the podium for any second in the race today, so what a wonderful result! Finally it happened! After such a long time waiting and for jumping on the podium so unexpectedly, I feel extra happy. I think that was the best answer to give to everybody who started doubting our work: get the car together and fight back; never give up, as anything can happen. A big thank you to the team and to everybody who kept on believing we would get on the podium again. That’s what team work is about. A special word for my mechanics and engineers who have done a fantastic job this weekend after some difficult races this year. I didn’t think a podium was possible – not even at the end of the race, because it was pretty busy in the last laps and I had lost count of where I was. Then when I crossed the line, I asked the guys where I was and they said “Third – on the podium!” It’s one of those moments that you enjoy deeply as a driver. We were close a couple of times but it was great for it to happen in a spectacular race like this, through strategy and lots of passing on a circuit where overtaking is difficult.”

Nico Rosberg

“That was a really exciting race. I had a bad first few laps and lost positions, then the Safety Car came out at a bad moment for me. After the restart, I thought I would end up finishing out of the points, because I had the oldest tyres and therefore no grip, which made it very hard to defend. We had planned to try a one-stop strategy but had to convert to two stops, and thanks to the strategy guys, we were on fresh tyres when everybody else was struggling. I was in P12 on lap 47 and P6 at the end, so it clearly worked and we are very happy with a good team result after such a chaotic race, with two cars in the top six. A great result for Michael with his podium and I am happy to score some more nice points.”

Ross Brawn

“Congratulations to Michael and the team on a fantastic and well-deserved podium finish. Michael demonstrated today that if we can give him the opportunities, he will get a great result. And well done to Nico as well. He was in quite a difficult position at one stage but came back and gave the team a really strong points score today. The early part of the race was quite difficult for us, and our early strategy did not come together as the tyres behaved differently to our pre-race predictions. So we had to react, and we did so extremely well, leaving our stops as late as possible to give our guys fresh rubber at the end. It was such an exciting end to the race, and I am very proud of both of our drivers, everyone here in Valencia, and back at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth today.”

Norbert Haug

“A marvellous race from Michael with the right speed and the right strategy. Coming from 12th on the grid to third on the podium is a good achievement, which Michael truly deserves and he achieved that with a great drive. Nico started sixth and lost five places during the first lap, which was a big handicap – so to climb back to sixth place was a good recovery. Since his win in China, Nico has scored one point less than Fernando Alonso, who brought home the most points in the last six races. As for the rumour spread by another team that Michael used his DRS flap where he should not have done, I can confirm that this was not the case, as our data proved and the stewards of the meeting confirmed. I am really pleased for Michael and the team. We always believed in each other and today was the first of hopefully more podiums to follow.”

Nico Rosberg finished the Canadian Grand Prix in sixth place today with Michael Schumacher forced to retire after 43 laps. Nico ran a two-stop strategy, pitting on laps 19 and 38, and using super soft/soft/soft tires.  Michael retired after 43 laps when a hydraulic problem left his rear-wing flap stuck open. Nico has now scored 67 points in the last five races – putting him fifth in the standings.

Full Race Overview

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton became Formula One seventh winner at the seventh round of the 2012 F1 season, after an action-packedCanadian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton was involved in a three-way fight with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Vettel led for the first 16 laps for Red Bull, but after pulling away at the start, rapid tire degradation forced him into the pits at the end of the 16th lap.

Hamilton went in a lap later, with Alonso going one further still for Ferrari and came out in the lead against Hamilton and Vettel. Hamilton quickly passed Alonso, however, and opened a three-second lead until he had to make a second tire stop on the 50th lap.

Hamilton began slashing the gap his second stop created, as Vettel also began to close in on Alonso. On the 62nd lap Hamilton swept easily by Vettel, then clawed in Alonso. The Spaniard resisted him on the 64th lap, but on the 65th the game was up and the McLaren driver was headed for a brilliant victory which he would later describe as one of his most enjoyable.

Behind him, one-stopping Romain Grosjean was coming at Alonso and Vettel like a train in his Lotus after some careful tire conservation, and Sauber’s Sergio Perez was following suit. Both pushed the Ferrari down places, and then to add final insult to injury Vettel, who had stopped after all on the 63rd lap and taken on a set of Pirelli super-softs, flew by Alonso as well.

Hamilton’s success puts the English driver back in the lead of the championship by two points from the Ferrari driver, 88 to 86. Vettel is third on 85.

Grosjean’s excellent drive made up for Lotus’s disappointment in Monaco, while Perez’s place on the podium was revenge on Alonso for the Malaysian Grand Prix result.

Behind Vettel and Alonso, Nico Rosberg had an up and down race in which he initially struggled on the super-softs in his Mercedes but was later able to set fastest laps as he fended off Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Kamui Kobayashi led his Sauber team mate initially, but his early single stop compromised him and he had to be satisfied with ninth ahead of repentant Felipe Massa, who spun early on in Turn One and thereafter had to play catch-up as he took the final point for Ferrari.

Behind the Brazilian, Paul di Resta looked a candidate for points but ultimately lost out after yet another smooth drive for Force India, and led home team mate Nico Hulkenberg by eight seconds.

It was a disappointing race for Williams, with Pastor Maldonado making his way through for 13th ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who marred a race-long fight with Toro Rosso team mate Jean-Eric Vergne with a late spin in one of the chicanes; Vergne had earlier been handed a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding, and took 15th.

Jenson Button had an appalling day on which he was one of the first pit stoppers despite starting on the more durable soft-compound Pirellis, and ended up lapped and totally mystified by his McLaren’s lack of pace. Bruno Senna was 17th after an undistinguished race, leading home the Caterhams of Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov, and Charles Pic’s Marussia.

Pic’s team mate Timo Glock was the last retirement, with brake problems. Michael Schumacher ran at the end of the potential points-scorers’ train before his DRS stuck open and he was forced to retire, while mechanical problems stopped both HRTs after Pedro de la Rosa had led the Marussias.

Nico Rosberg

“Sixth place is a decent result today and it’s important for both me and the team to keep scoring points for the championship and maintain our consistency. It was a mixed-up race and it was difficult to find a rhythm, particularly at the start, but by the end, the gap to the leading cars was not that big. It could have gone better this weekend, and we just need a little bit more performance to be competing at the front. However we are making good progress and increasing our understanding of the tyres all the time.”

Michael Schumacher

“Unfortunately, our weekend in Montreal didn’t turn out trouble-free for me and a hydraulic problem with the DRS forced me to end my race early. At first, I didn’t know exactly what the problem was; I overshot the corner, ran through the grass and asked myself what was going on. Then the team told me about the problem and I saw it in the mirrors. Of course it’s disappointing for all of us but it’s not a question of pointing fingers; stuff like this happens. I know the team are doing their best and that it probably hits them even harder than me. We’ll be back on the attack in Valencia.”

Ross Brawn

“We had a very quick car today, as Nico’s performance in particular showed, but a combination of failing to achieve our potential in qualifying and a messy race cost us positions at the flag. We asked both drivers to be cautious with the super soft tyres in the first five laps to ensure we didn’t push them too hard, but when we gave them the go-ahead, it was clear that Nico – who was running in clean air – was extremely quick and one of the fastest cars. Michael was caught in a train of cars in the lower half of the top ten, and although we tried something different by stopping early in order to get him into clean air, it didn’t quite work for us. He then suffered a hydraulic issue which left his DRS jammed open and it was not possible to fix it in race conditions. I can only apologise to Michael for a further technical failure. As for Nico, his race was running to plan and he was gaining on the leaders when he ran across Massa, who was running out of tyres and defending vigorously before his final stop. This cost Nico both track position and time that proved crucial in the closing laps. Ultimately, that’s part of racing, but the real lesson from today is that achieving our potential in qualifying, and running clean races, is vital for strong results.”

Norbert Haug

“It was a great, exciting race this afternoon, during which Nico was able to lap at the same speed as the leaders after a tricky opening few laps. Nico was 14 seconds behind first place at the end of the race – the same gap as we saw after 10 laps. Our team has taken an important step forward and got the most from the tyres in track temperatures that exceeded 40 degrees, which was demonstrated by Nico several times setting the fastest laps of the race during his stints. We got the tyre management right here, as in Monaco, and we are working hard to push this process further forward. After seven races, Nico is 21 points behind the championship leader – he has scored on average just three points fewer than leader Lewis Hamilton, which is not too big a gap. Michael was running well after his early stop until he was forced to retire with his rear wing flap stuck open. It’s clear to everybody in the team that we must achieve the same levels of reliability on his car as we have with Nico, who has completed every racing lap so far this season. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes on their victory today – it was the 300th race for McLaren and Mercedes, a milestone which adds extra significance to Lewis’ appearance on the top step of the podium.”

Round Seven of the 2012 World Championship, the Canadian Grand Prix, is hosted by Montreal and is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 10 at the 4.631 km (2.87 mile) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve located on the city’s Ile Notre-Dame.  In the past ten years, there have been a total of 14 Safety Car periods in Montreal – including five last year.  The race has been won from pole three times in the past ten years – compared to eight of the last ten Monaco GPs.

With all the excitement surrounding the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix, the race has also been steeped in controversy.  Protester threats in Montreal have forced organizers of the Canadian Grand Prix to cancel the free opening day of the event where Formula One fans would have had access to Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

Francois Dumontier, president of the Canadian GP, said in a statement Sunday that organizers had no choice in the cancellation. “Considering the various disruption threats made public recently, the free admission and the naturally openness character of the open house day, revealed some risks that we could not neglect,” said Dumontier.

The student group CLASSE suggested the race could be used as a platform for the demonstrations over tuition fees. On Saturday, group spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said it would use the event as a forum to raise its grievances with the province, but wouldn’t prevent people from going to the race.

The global group of computer hackers known as Anonymous, the activists, who earlier this month claimed responsibility for downing a dozen Quebec government websites, also threw its support behind the Quebec students by threatening to disrupt the Montreal Grand Prix.

Special Law 78, Anonymous said, has been “universally condemned by human rights watchers around the world as tyrannical, draconian — and has left Quebec in clear violation of its basic human rights obligations.” “Beginning on June 7th and running through race day on June 10th, Anonymous will take down all the F1 websites, dump the servers and databases — and wreck anything else F1-related we can find on the Internet,” said their statement.

As for the racers, they are concentrating on the track and the fans.

Michael Schumacher

“The Canadian Grand Prix is all about the great atmosphere at the track and in the city. The Canadian fans make the whole weekend into a real celebration and, for us drivers, it’s great to feel their passion for motorsport. That gives us a natural boost and it would be great to give them even more reasons to celebrate at the end of the weekend. The race in Montreal is usually action-packed, like we saw last year. The characteristics of the circuit should suit us, and we are counting on our car performing well there. As I said: a trip to Montreal is always worth it. And let’s hope we can make our trip this year especially worthwhile.”

Nico Rosberg

“The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal is a great track, and I’m really looking forward to our visit there. With its low downforce and slow corners, a little bit like Monza, the track should suit our car. We’ve made good progress over the past few weeks, and that was clear from the performance in Monaco. So I’m hopeful that we can make another step forward in Canada and have a successful weekend. The fans are always fantastic at this race and they really turn the city into a carnival for the race weekend. Gilles Villeneuve was a great friend and rival of my father, which also makes this weekend very special. I can’t wait to get there.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal

“On the back of a successful weekend in Monaco which saw Michael qualify first on Saturday and Nico finish in second place on Sunday, everyone at the team wants to keep the momentum going and get the racing underway in Montreal next weekend. The Canadian Grand Prix is always a fantastic experience, with both the city and fans giving Formula One such a warm welcome. The circuit itself is an exciting challenge, and the first real high-speed test of the season where brakes, engine power and tyre management are crucial. Races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve have the tendency to be eventful! We’re looking forward to putting on a good show and hope to have another strong weekend.”

Norbert Haug, Vice-President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“As we head to Montreal, the question everybody’s asking is: will we see a seventh different winner in seven races? The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has a habit of throwing up unpredictable races, with seven of the last ten races featuring Safety Car deployments. Last year’s grand prix lasted over four hours and was not only the longestrace in F1 history but probably one of the most exciting, too.

The circuit at the former Olympic venue of the Ile Notre Dame is characterised by slow corners, including three taken below 100 kph, and four long straights on which the cars exceed 285 kph. The overall set-up compromise favours low downforceand low drag, while the brakes are given a really tough time.

At two of the past four race weekends, MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS had the speed to qualify and race at the front of the field. Nico has converted this competitiveness into 59 points in the past four races – the most of any driver in the field. Michael has suffered several technical problems and our priority is to give him a problem-free weekend in Montreal. As his fastest qualifying time in Monaco demonstrated, Michael has the speed to compete at the front. He has won seven times in Montreal, his Silver Arrow carries number sevenand Canada will be race seven of the 2012 world championship…”