Nico doubles up and Lewis fights back on eventful night for F1 in Bahrain. Nico Rosberg took his 16th career victory Sunday – his first at the Bahrain International Circuit. Rosberg’s teammmate Lewis Hamilton finished his race at Bahrain, respectably, in third for his 89th Formula One podium.

Currently, Nico (50) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 17 points from Lewis (33) who is in P2. In the Constructors’ Championship, MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS (83) lead Ferrari (33) by 50 points.

Bahrain Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg

Wow, what a weekend! I am so happy with how everything is working out at the moment. The start was definitely the key to my win – and that was a really great moment, as it was an area that we put a lot effort into before the race. Leading into Turn One was a relief, to be honest, as I could see in my mirrors that it was very busy behind me. But from then on I was able to control the pace and take the win. Strategy-wise we had to play it safe. It maybe wasn’t the quickest option – but we had to cover the risk of a safety car. It was an almost perfect weekend for me – only qualifying could have been a fraction better. What a great start to the season – a big thank you to the guys and girls at the factories for this amazing car! Now I look forward to China, where I won my first ever Grand Prix, so I have plenty of positive energy heading there.

Lewis Hamilton

I didn’t get a good start today – but it actually wasn’t as bad as the last one. They were completely different incidents – both painful, but this one probably more so! In Melbourne I had loads of wheel spin but this time I just didn’t get away as well as I needed to and that was down to me. If you start on pole and go backwards it quickly becomes a domino effect. It’s so easy to get clipped from there and unfortunately that’s what happened at Turn One. Nonetheless, I managed to climb back up there and at least get some points, so again it was good damage limitation. I could easily have not finished the race, so I’m glad it wasn’t more points dropped in the end. I had so much damage on the car that I couldn’t keep up with Kimi. I was fighting hard and did what I could with it – but it wasn’t quite enough to catch him, so in the end I had to just save the tyres in case of a safety car. A big thank you to all the fans who came out this weekend. I’ve got some incredible support here. I’ve been so well taken care of, so I look forward to coming back next year. Now I’ve got to wait until China for the next battle – but it’s a track that has been good to me for many years, so hopefully things will turn around a bit for me there.

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

Congratulations to Nico first of all. He’s on a roll right now, with five race wins in a row, and he didn’t put a foot wrong today – a clean start, clean turn one and then the race was his to control. He was quick when he needed to be, without taking any unnecessary risks, and deserved another great win. On Lewis’ side, like in Melbourne he found himself P7 on the first lap – and, again, he used the fighting spirit we all know to get back to the podium. He got a poor getaway again – and we saw up and down the field that the new rules are causing much more variability in the starts, which was the intention. After that, he got hit by Bottas at the first corner in a pretty over-optimistic move, which damaged the car pretty badly on the front wing and the floor – it cost a good chunk of overall performance. From then on, it was about damage limitation and trying to get back through the field, even with a damaged car; Lewis did a great job at that. But it was clear in the middle of the race that he didn’t have the pace to challenge Raikkonen, so then we just played it safe and brought everything home. We’re just two rounds into a season of 21 races, so there are no trends to find in the results right now; as a team, we’re pleased to have made this strong start to the year, and that we are taking our opportunities when they come. But it’s clear that we would have seen a different race today if Sebastian had not been forced to retire before the start. So we will keep our feet on the ground and keep pushing for the next race in China.

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)

An eventful start to the race, with Sebastian dropping out and then the first corner incident for Lewis. There was a lot of damage to the car – particularly to the floor but also to the front wing – so we were very relieved to see that it still had enough performance to allow Lewis to start fighting back through the pack. We debated changing the front wing at the first stop but eventually decided that there was not sufficient damage to warrant the time loss in the box. Meanwhile, Nico made a strong start and had a good buffer after Kimi also lost out at Turn One, so it was a fairly straightforward race for him with no issues to report. For Lewis, he battled his way up to Kimi and we decided to try something different to get him past by taking the medium tyre and targeting a two stop strategy. Initially this looked promising, as he was gaining on Kimi despite running a slower compound after the first stops. However, it soon became apparent that the medium was degrading as badly as the soft, so that strategy unfortunately began to unwind quite quickly. We therefore converted him back to a three stop – but of course Ferrari shadowed and we then had to cover that in turn with Nico. At that point, with all three cars on the same tyres, we had to just hold position to the end. It was great for Nico to get the win and great damage limitation on Lewis’ side to recover good points – if a big shame for him that he couldn’t convert his amazing pole position into a win, through no fault of his own.

Formula 1 and its future hangs in the balance. F1 has been in trouble for some time now with viewership and fans not paying top dollar to view the race at the racetracks or even watching the races on TV for that matter. Revenue is also down and drivers are speaking out against the sport at an alarming rate. So are the fans. Multiple problems could be to blame for the sport’s decline. Yet, those issues could all be in the past as Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s head honcho, a man’s that’s been in charge of the sport for over 40 years and a big part of its problems, finally seems willing to give up the reigns to someone else.

Bernie Ecclestone

Ecclestone recently stated that CVC, the holding group that controls a majority stake in Formula 1 and employs him, has on the table a deal worth nearly $8.6 billion to acquire controlling interest in the sport. While Ecclestone declined to state who the parties involved were, he did state to Britain’s The Sun, “I think CVC will make a decision on the sale sooner or later. There are people who want to buy. Actually, two of the people have agreed [on] the price. It’s just a question of whether CVC wants to sell or not.”

Ten years ago, CVC purchased the sport, and over the years, has sold bits and pieces to other invested parties. However, this would be essentially a full sale of the sport due to the controlling 35 percent stake it represents. There’s no word on whether or not CVC is actually considering the offer. There’s also been no word on whether or not the driver’s or team’s associations have been consulted or informed on the details of the sale and acquisition.

In that same interview, Ecclestone further agitated fans by again stating that this could be the last year we see a Formula 1 race in Italy. “Monza has got a contract for this year, so it is going to go ahead. Next year is the question mark. I don’t think we have to have an Italian Grand Prix. Somebody once told me a funny thing that you couldn’t have Formula 1 without a race in France. But we do.”

Will Formula 1 be sold? Will Ecclestone finally leave the sport? Can Formula 1 recover some of that lost luster? We can only wait and see if the sale goes through and hope that the terms of the sale bolster the future of Formula 1 instead of hindering it.

Via: AutomobileMag.com

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton clinch a memorable 1-2 finish after a thrilling race in Melbourne, Australia.

• Nico took his 15th career victory today – his second at the Melbourne Grand Prix Cicuit
• Lewis claimed his 88th Formula One podium to complete a Silver Arrows 1-2
• After a poor start dropped them from the front row to P3 (Nico) and P7 (Lewis), strong drives and good strategy calls saw both recover to cling on from a hard-charging Vettel
• Nico (25) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 7 points from Lewis (18) in P2
• MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS (43) lead Ferrari (15) by 28 points in the Constructors’ Championship

Formula One – MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, Australian GP 2016. Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg

That was a perfect race for me. The start was tricky, as I was on the dirty side of the grid and Vettel managed to be ahead. He did a really good job at the start – but we chose the perfect strategy by going onto the medium tyre after the red flag. A big thanks to the team on the pit wall for that, to everyone back at the factories for this fantastic car and to everyone back in Europe who woke up so early to tune in for the race. I hope it was a good show for you! We can enjoy this moment for sure – but we know now just how strong those red cars will be this season, so we cannot afford to relax. I’m really looking forward to the next races and hopefully some more exciting battles. Finally, I also have to say it was a big relief to see Fernando walk away from his shunt. It shows how incredible the safety of these cars is now, which is great to see.

Formula One – MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, Australian GP 2016. Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg

Lewis Hamilton

I’d had a perfect weekend in every way up until the lights went out and felt confident heading into the race. I got a bit of wheelspin off the line then got pushed wide at the first corner, so from there it was just about recovering. But these things happen and I’m grateful for the way I was able to fight back through. P2 isn’t bad in terms of damage limitation after a start like that. I spent a long time stuck behind one of the Toro Rossos and there wasn’t a lot I could do about it as he was on a quicker tyre. I could just see the others pulling away, so the safety car definitely helped by bunching us all up again. I was already on a one-stop strategy and, to be honest, I don’t know why everyone else didn’t do the same on the medium. I’m happy they didn’t, as I probably would have finished a lot further back. In any case, the team did a great job to help us pull it back and there’s still 20 races to go, so I’m feeling pretty chilled. I’ve had far worse starts to the season, so I’ll take that today and head into the next one looking up.

Formula One – MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, Australian GP 2016. Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

First of all, a big relief to see Fernando walk away from that shunt. The race itself was extremely tense throughout – a real cliffhanger and a great way to show what Formula One is really about. We didn’t get it right at the start. The drivers were slow away from the line then touched at the first corner, so we were forced into recovery mode. Our plan from there had been to put Nico on a two stop and Lewis a one stop strategy before the red flag came out. We did the maths and opted to go with one set of mediums to the end, with the drivers on the knife edge of endurance and performance. Managing tyres and temperatures became a big challenge, with debris causing an overheating brake caliper that almost forced us to retire Nico at one stage. Thankfully that was not the case and he led Lewis home for a hard-fought 1-2. A perfect result to start the year, a great job from the drivers to manage and recover the race, fantastic work on the pit wall to give them the right strategy to do so and an incredible team effort from everybody at the factories to get us here. We must now sort our starts and look to carry out momentum into Bahrain.

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)

What can you say after a race like that? Absolutely fantastic to get a 1-2 at the first race of the season – particularly after we made life very difficult for ourselves with a pair of poor starts. After the red flag we opted to run the medium tyre to the end and expected others to do the same – which would have made the win a very big ask, let alone a 1-2. Of course, we can look back and enjoy it now – but it was quite stressful at the time! It made for a great spectacle, so I hope the fans enjoyed it. Overall, we can be extremely happy today. Congratulations to everyone back at Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart. Together, they’ve produced a car which has given us the perfect start to the season in very exciting circumstances.

Formula 1 drivers are asking for closed cockpit designs by 2017 to help reduce deaths and injuries during racing. This comes after the deaths of Jules Bianchi and Justin Wilson, which have prompted a renewed interest in increasing head protection for drivers. Currently, cockpits are completely open leaving drivers open to serious head injuries. The design currently sitting at the top of the list is one suggested by Mercedes-Benz. It includes a halo-style bar that wraps around the driver’s head with a minimal reduction in visibility.

Formula 1 Drivers Call for Closed Cockpits

Research into this design is promising, but it goes nowhere without approval. According to Motorsport, Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) chairman Alex Wurz hopes approval will come this Friday during a regularly scheduled FIA meeting.

Formula 1 Drivers Call for Closed Cockpits

The new halo bar requires structural changes to vehicles, but leaves the chassis alone. Wurtz believes the one-year lead time is more than enough time to allow for modifications of cars. This isn’t about racing faster, but racing safer, so hopefully approval will come soon and we won’t be seeing so many stories of F1 drivers being hurt.

Formula 1 Drivers Call for Closed Cockpits

Via: BoldRide

With the Caterham and Marussia Formula One teams in administration and not racing in this weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, the future of Formula One is in question.

In addition to the two teams in administration, reports say that Sauber, Lotus and Williams are all hemorrhaging money.

One report from the British newspaper The Guardian paints a bleak portrait of the series and its enigmatic CEO Bernie Ecclestone under the headline “US sounds warning to Formula One, a sport teetering on the brink of crisis.”

“F1 has had no coherent leadership in the past year while Ecclestone, who will be 84 on Tuesday, fought bribery allegations in London and Munich courts,” the report said. “Now, against a background of spiraling costs, unequal payments to teams, falling crowds and TV audiences, as well as declining sponsorship and no agreement about capping costs, the sport has reached the point of no return.”

Italian-American racing legend Mario Andretti, who won the F1 championship in 1978, told the paper Formula One needs to loosen up a bit and be more creative. One of his suggestions involved bringing in non-Formula One drivers to specific races.

“I would love to see a team invite a third car for a special event,” he said. “For the U.S. Grand Prix, say, Mercedes could invite a third car, having groomed some well-known American driver in testing, to take part as a guest competitor. Can you imagine what that would do for the promotion of the event? Every newspaper in the country would write about it.”

Andretti might be on to something. Jeff Gordon or Kurt Busch might be interested…

Via: Autoweek

After starting from pole position, Lewis Hamilton finished Sunday’s German Grand Prix on the Nürburgring in fifth place. While it wasn’t an ideal finish for the Brit, it was a big step up from where he was running just 15 laps prior to the finish when he was in 10th. Mercedes AMG Petronas teammate Nico Rosberg finished the race in 9th place after starting the race from the 11th position and dropping as far back as the16th position by the 49th lap.

Nico Rosberg Pit Stop at German Grand Prix

After a dismal first half of the race, Rosberg and Hamilton fought hard to pick up points for the team, two for Rosberg and 10 for Hamilton. While it may not seem like much, these points mean the Mercedes AMG Petronas team will continue to hold onto second place in the Constructors’ standings behind Red Bull and just three points ahead of Ferrari.

2013 German Grand Prix Pit Lane

Lewis Hamilton

That was really a tough race out there for us today. I didn’t have a great start and the Red Bulls were much quicker off the line, dropping me back to third. We really struggled with the second set of tires which then compromised the rest of my race. It’s a real shame as the team are working so hard and doing such a good job. We’ve clearly got a good car but for some reason, it doesn’t work in these hot conditions. We’ll keep working on it and the positive from today is that we were able to recover to fifth place with a good strategy and great pit stops, and we’re still second in the Constructors’ table. Hopefully we’ll have a better chance at the next race but, for now, there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us.

Nico Rosberg

The car didn’t feel so nice to drive today. We struggled a lot with the rear tires and that’s why we weren’t able to match the pace of the guys in the front. Even so, I had a bit of fun when I changed to the option tires and could really push to at least score a few points. But we need to understand the new tires a bit more because it seems that the new construction has shuffled things around, especially in these hot conditions. We have to do a lot of work in the next weeks to make sure we arrive in Hungary in good shape.

Dieter Zetsche and Ross Brawn at German Grand Prix

Ross Brawn

Our first thoughts today go to the cameraman who was struck by an errant wheel in the pit lane. Happily, he does not appear to have suffered serious injuries but it was once again a reminder of the dangers of our sport and underlines the need for constant vigilance in terms of safety. Today was a race of two halves for us. In the first part, we were once again overstressing the tires – particularly on the prime compound – and our performance fell away as a result. However, as the temperatures cooled off a little and things settled down, both drivers had respectable pace and were able to fight their way back through the field. Lewis and Nico kept pushing until the final lap and were rewarded for their commitment and determination.

At one point it didn’t look like we would come away with much at all from this afternoon, so there has to be a certain satisfaction in saving 12 points today. We have said all along that there is still a question mark over our performance in hotter conditions, and today’s race showed that we still have work to do. We have made big steps forward since Bahrain and Barcelona, where we particularly suffered with hotter track temperatures, and our performance was much improved compared to those races. But we have not yet done enough to convert our Saturday pace into race-winning speed in all conditions on Sunday. The three-week break until Hungary will give us an opportunity to think about how we can make further progress on our tire management as well as continuing to develop the core performance of the car.

Toto Wolff

We had a real character-building afternoon here at the Nürburgring. Neither of the drivers could find any grip on the prime tire in the first part of the race and it mirrored similar experiences we have had so far this season. We managed to recover in the second half, though, and our result was pretty respectable in the end given how things looked after the first 30 laps. Well done to both drivers for squeezing the maximum out of the car today. After such a successful weekend in Silverstone, it feels a little bit like a night and day difference for us. We need to get our heads down at the factory, properly analyse our performance and keep working hard because we know that we will see similar temperatures in Hungary to what we experienced here.

Staring first on the gird at the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix, the new Mercedes AMG Petronas Driver Lewis Hamilton ran a great race but his car and his tires just weren’t up to the challenge. Despite falling back from first, Lewis Hamilton still managed to achieve his second successive podium for Mercedes AMG Petronas with a third place finish in Shanghai.  First place went to Fernando Alonso with Kimi Räikkönen coming in second.

Teammate Nico Rosberg did not fair quite as well however. Starting the race in the fourth position, Rosberg only managed to complete 21 laps before retiring early due to the rear anti-roll bar breaking and throwing off the balance of the car.

Continue on for quotes from the Mercedes AMG Petronas team or skip straight down to the photo gallery for a complete look at the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

• Lewis started from pole and completed a three-stop option/prime/prime/prime strategy, stopping on laps 5, 21 and 37
• Nico was following the same strategy and had stopped on laps 5 and19, followed by a further stop on lap 20
• The team retired his car on lap 21 when a problem with the rear anti-roll bar was identified

Nico Rosberg

The race was tough for me today and with my set-up I had an unexpected level of understeer which made it difficult to drive. After my second pit stop, the feeling got worse and I had one front wheel in the air during the corners. The rear anti-roll bar, which influences the balance of the car, had broken so unfortunately we had to retire the car. It’s a shame and I’ve had a difficult start to the season with two DNFs. But it’s good to have the next race in just seven days time so hopefully we can put this result behind us with a strong weekend in Bahrain. It was great for the team to get another podium today.

Lewis Hamilton

It was a good race for me today and whilst I would have loved the win, I’m really happy with third place and being on the podium for the second race in a row. Fernando and Kimi were just a little bit too fast for us during the race and my tires were shot at the end trying to keep ahead of Sebastian. I could see his car getting bigger and bigger in my mirrors so it was nice to be able to hang on for the third place. The guys did a great job this weekend to get us where we were; on pole and finishing third. We got the absolute most out of the car we had and that’s very satisfying. We’re not quite there yet in terms of overall pace but everyone is working so hard and I know we can do it.

Ross Brawn

We didn’t quite enjoy the balance with the car today that we were expecting. Clearly the track had moved away from us and perhaps more towards one or two other teams. Certainly we didn’t have as good a balance in the race as we had on Friday. With Lewis, we did the best we could with the car we had today and he drove extremely well. We needed to keep the stints as evenly balanced as possible to make sure we had adequate tyre life, however, even with that, it became very close with Sebastian at the end. Nico was running with the same issues a few places back when a problem with the rear anti-roll bar meant we had to stop the car. Overall we can be confident that we’ve made another step forward this weekend, and the fact that we’re all a little disappointed with third is a measure of the ambition and expectations of the team.

Toto Wolff

Well done to Lewis for the second podium finish in the last two races. He drove a very good race, just fending off Sebastian who had reeled him in on his option tires over the last five laps. Starting from pole obviously raises expectations, however we knew that tyre management would be very critical for us today. During practice and qualifying, the track conditions suited us better than in the race today and, as a result, the balance of the car changed and wasn’t as good for both drivers. Unfortunately Nico had to retire from the race on lap 21 with a broken anti-roll bar and we will analyse the reason for this. We will work hard to make sure that technical problems like the ones Nico experienced do not happen again so that both drivers can score points in the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend.

In the first race of the 2013 season and his first race as part of the Mercedes AMG Petronas team, Lewis Hamilton finished in fifth place at Sunday’s Australian Grand Pirx after starting third on the grid. A very respectable start to the season, garnering Hamilton 10 points. His new team-mate Nico Rosberg started the race 6th on the grid and was off to a strong start, but was forced to retire his car early after an electrical issue that occured midway through the race.

As the new addition to the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 team, Lewis Hamilton is making his rounds this week and we have his first appearences caught on video and in photos.  Video of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS driver Lewis Hamilton making his first appearance as a works Silver Arrow driver in Germany visiting Mercedes-AMG headquarters in Affalterbach and the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.

Also in F1 news, Toto Wolff steps down as Williams F1 Team executive director to replace Norbert Haug. Click here to read the full story.

Williams F1 Team has announced that Toto Wolff is to leave his role as an executive director of the team with immediate effect to take up a new position with Mercedes-Benz. Wolff is set to take up a senior management position in charge of Mercedes-Benz’s motorsport activities as replacement for the departed Norbert Haug.

As a shareholder and director at Williams, the new job would have led to a clash of interests, which is why he has stood down from his direct responsibilities with the outfit. He will retain his financial involvement, however.

Team principal Frank Williams praised the work that Wolff had done for his Grove-based outfit over recent years, and said it would have been wrong to stand in the way of the opportunity the Austrian had at Mercedes.

“I would like to thank Toto for his hard work, dedication and commitment to the team during his time as one of our executive directors,” explained Williams.

“He was a key support to me in this role last season, deputising at a number of races when I was unable to attend. However, positions such as the one offered to him by Mercedes do not come around often.

“Toto has a long history with them and I certainly was not going to stand in the way of him accepting this once in a lifetime opportunity.

“Toto will retain his shareholding in Williams and will always have a place at Grove but make no mistake; we will fight him hard on the race track!

“I am sure he will be a strong asset for Mercedes and on behalf of the whole team I would like to wish him the best of luck in his new role.”

Wolff already had close ties with Mercedes through a 49 percent stake he had in the engineering company HWA, which helps run the German car manufacturer’s DTM program.

Wolff’s departure from Williams comes against the backdrop of other senior staff having left the outfit over the past year, including former chairman Adam Parr and chief operations engineer Mark Gillan.

Williams said that he had the utmost confidence that the current management structure of the team would continue to ensure that the outfit had a bright future.

“I’m lucky to have a very professional group of people around me and the company’s executive committee will continue the work they have been doing to ensure a successful future for the business,” he said.

British based Williams F1 team looks set to be the only team to miss getting its cars ready for the first pre-season test at Jerez in Spain, however. Its new challenger will be launched before the second test in Barcelona.

Michael Schumacher was born January 3,1969 and is known to many of us as a German Formula One driver, racing for the Mercedes team. But, did you know Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is considered to be one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time.

Schumacher has set several F1 records throughout his career: most championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and most races won in a single season (13 in 2004). In 2002 he became the only driver in Formula One history to finish in the top three in every race of a season and then also broke the record for most consecutive podium finishes. According to the official Formula One website he is “statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen”. In a survey of 217 F1 drivers, Schumacher was voted the second greatest driver of the world championship era (which began in 1950), behind the late Ayrton Senna.

After beginning his race career with karting, Schumacher won German drivers’ championships in Formula König and Formula Three before joining Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship. After one Mercedes-funded race for the Jordan Formula One team Schumacher signed as a driver for the Benetton F1 team in 1991. After winning consecutive championships with Benetton in 1994/1995, Schumacher then moved to Ferrari in 1996 and won another five consecutive drivers’ titles with them from 2000 through 2004. Schumacher retired from Formula One driving in 2006, but stayed on with Ferrari as an advisor. Schumacher agreed to return for Ferrari part-way through 2009, as a substitute for the injured Felipe Massa, but was prevented by a neck injury. He later signed a three-year contract to drive for the new Mercedes GP team starting in 2010.

Schumacher’s career has not been without controversy though. He was twice involved in collisions in the final race of a season that would determine the outcome of the world championship. First with Damon Hill in 1994 in Adelaide, and again with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 in Jerez.

Away from the track, Schumacher is an ambassador for UNESCO and a spokesman for driver safety. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts throughout his life and donated tens of millions of dollars to charity. Michael and his younger brother Ralf Schumacher are the only brothers to win races in Formula One, and they were the first brothers to finish 1st and 2nd in the same race, in Montreal in 2001, and there again (in switched order) in 2003.

Schumacher’s Early Years

Schumacher was born in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, to Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer, and his wife Elisabeth. When Schumacher was four, his father modified his pedal kart by adding a small motorcycle engine. When Schumacher crashed it into a lamp post in Kerpen, his parents took him to the karting track at Kerpen-Horrem, where he became the youngest member of the karting club. His father soon built him a kart from discarded parts and at the age of six Schumacher won his first club championship. To support his son’s racing, Rolf Schumacher took on a second job renting and repairing karts, while his wife worked at the track’s canteen. Nevertheless, when Schumacher needed a new engine costing 800 DM, his parents were unable to afford it; Michael was able to continue racing with support from local businessmen.

Regulations in Germany require a driver to be at least 14 years old to obtain a kart license. To get around this, Schumacher obtained a license in Luxembourg at the age of 12.

In 1983, he obtained his German license, a year after he won the German Junior Kart Championship. From 1984 on, Schumacher won many German and European kart championships. He joined Eurokart dealer Adolf Neubert in 1985 and by 1987 he was the German and European kart champion, then he quit school and began working as a mechanic. In 1988 he made his first step into single-seat car racing by participating in the German Formula Ford and Formula König series, winning the latter.

In 1989, Schumacher signed with Willi Weber’s WTS Formula Three team. Funded by Weber, he competed in the German Formula 3 series, winning the title in 1990. He won also the Macau Grand Prix. At the end of 1990, along with his Formula 3 rivals Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, he joined the Mercedes junior racing programme in the World Sports-Prototype Championship. This was unusual for a young driver: most of Schumacher’s contemporaries would compete in Formula 3000 on the way to Formula One. However, Weber advised Schumacher that being exposed to professional press conferences and driving powerful cars in long distance races would help his career.

In the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season, Schumacher won the season finale at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in a Sauber–Mercedes C11, and finished fifth in the drivers’ championship despite only driving in 3 of the 9 races. He continued with the team in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season, winning again at the final race of the season at Autopolis in Japan with a Sauber–Mercedes-Benz C291, leading to a ninth place finish in the drivers championship. He also competed at Le Mans during that season, finishing 5th in a car shared with Karl Wendlinger and Fritz Kreutzpointner. In 1991, he competed in one race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship, finishing second.

Formula One Career

Overview

Schumacher was noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race, to push his car to the very limit for sustained periods. Motor sport author Christopher Hilton observed in 2003 that “A measure of a driver’s capabilities is his performance in wet races, because the most delicate car control and sensitivity are needed”, and noted that like other great drivers, Schumacher’s record in wet conditions shows very few mistakes: up to the end of the 2003 season, Schumacher won 17 of the 30 races in wet conditions he contested. Some of Schumacher’s best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the nicknames “Regenkönig” (rain king) or “Regenmeister” (rain master) even in the non-German-language media. He is known as “the Red Baron”, because of his red Ferrari and in reference to the German Manfred von Richthofen, the famous flying ace of World War I. Schumacher’s nicknames include “Schumi”, “Schuey” and “Schu”. Schumacher is often credited with popularising Formula One in Germany, where it was formerly considered a fringe sport. When Schumacher retired in 2006, three of the top ten drivers were German, more than any other nationality and more than have ever been present in Formula One history. Younger German drivers, such as Sebastian Vettel, felt Schumacher was key in their becoming Formula One drivers. In the latter part of his Formula One career, and as one of the senior drivers, Schumacher was the president of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. In a 2006 FIA survey, Michael Schumacher was voted the most popular driver of the season among Formula One fans.

Debut

Schumacher made his Formula One debut with the Jordan-Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, driving car number 32 as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot. Schumacher, still a contracted Mercedes driver, was signed by Eddie Jordan after Mercedes paid Jordan $150,000 for his debut. The week before the race, Schumacher impressed Jordan designer Gary Anderson and team manager Trevor Foster during a test drive at Silverstone. His manager Willi Weber assured Jordan that Schumacher knew the challenging Spa track well, although in fact he had only seen it as a spectator. During the race weekend, team-mate Andrea de Cesaris was meant to show Schumacher the circuit but was held up with contract negotiations. Schumacher then learned the track on his own, by cycling around the track on a fold-up bike he had brought with him. He impressed the paddock by qualifying seventh in this race. This matched the team’s season-best grid position, and out-qualified 11-year veteran de Cesaris. Motorsport journalist Joe Saward reported that after qualifying “clumps of German journalists were talking about ‘the best talent since Stefan Bellof'”.Schumacher retired on the first lap of the race with clutch problems.

Benetton

After his debut, and despite Jordan’s signed agreement in principle with Schumacher’s Mercedes management for the remainder of the season, Schumacher was signed by Benetton-Ford for the following race. Jordan applied for an injunction in the UK courts to prevent Schumacher driving for Benetton, but lost the case as they had not yet signed a contract. Schumacher finished the 1991 season with four points out of six races. His best finish was fifth in his second race, the Italian Grand Prix, in which he finished ahead of his team-mate and three-time World Champion Nelson Piquet.

At the start of the 1992 season the Sauber team, planning their Formula One debut with Mercedes backing for the following year, invoked a clause in Schumacher’s contract which stated that if Mercedes entered Formula One, Schumacher would drive for them. It was eventually agreed that Schumacher would stay with Benetton, Peter Sauber said that “[Schumacher] didn’t want to drive for us. Why would I have forced him?”. The year was dominated by the Williams of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese, featuring powerful Renault engines, semi-automatic gearboxes and active suspension to control the car’s ride height. In the “conventional” Benetton B192 Schumacher took his place on the podium for the first time, finishing third in the Mexican Grand Prix. He went on to take his first victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, in a wet race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which by 2003 he would call “far and away my favourite track”.He finished third in the Drivers’ Championship in 1992 with 53 points, three points behind runner-up Patrese.

The Williams of Damon Hill and Alain Prost also dominated the 1993 season. Benetton introduced their own active suspension and traction control early in the season, last of the frontrunning teams to do so. Schumacher won one race, the Portuguese Grand Prix where he beat Prost, and had nine podium finishes, but retired in seven of the other 15 races. He finished the season in fourth, with 52 points.

1994–1995: World Championship years

The 1994 season was Schumacher’s first Drivers’ Championship. The season, however, was marred by the deaths of Ayrton Senna (witnessed by Schumacher, who was directly behind in 2nd position) and Roland Ratzenberger during the San Marino Grand Prix, and by allegations that several teams, but most particularly Schumacher’s Benetton team, broke the sport’s technical regulations.

Schumacher won six of the first seven races and was leading the Spanish Grand Prix, before a gearbox failure left him stuck in fifth gear. Schumacher finished the race in second place. Following the San Marino Grand Prix, the Benetton, Ferrari and McLaren teams were investigated on suspicion of breaking the FIA-imposed ban on electronic aids. Benetton and McLaren initially refused to hand over their source code for investigation. When they did so, the FIA discovered hidden functionality in both teams’ software, but no evidence that it had been used in a race. Both teams were fined $100,000 for their initial refusal to cooperate. However, the McLaren software, which was a gearbox program that allowed automatic shifts, was deemed legal. By contrast, the Benetton software was deemed to be a form of “launch control” that would have allowed Schumacher to make perfect starts, which was explicitly outlawed by the regulations. However, there was no evidence to suggest that this software was actually used.

At the British Grand Prix, Schumacher was penalised for overtaking on the formation lap. He then ignored the penalty and the subsequent black flag, which indicates that the driver must immediately return to the pits, for which he was disqualified and later given a two-race ban. Benetton blamed the incident on a communication error between the stewards and the team. Schumacher was also disqualified after winning the Belgian Grand Prix after his car was found to have illegal wear on its skidblock, a measure used after the accidents at Imola to limit downforce and hence cornering speed. Benetton protested that the skidblock had been damaged when Schumacher spun over a kerb, but the FIA rejected their appeal because of the pattern of wear and damage visible on the block. These incidents helped Damon Hill close the points gap, and Schumacher led by a single point going into the final race in Australia. On lap 36 Schumacher hit the guardrail on the outside of the track while leading. Hill attempted to pass but as Schumacher’s car returned to the track there was a collision on the corner causing them both to retire. As a result Schumacher won a very controversial championship, the first German to do so (Jochen Rindt raced under the Austrian flag).

In 1995 Schumacher successfully defended his title with Benetton. He now had the same Renault engine as Williams. He accumulated 33 more points than second-placed Damon Hill. With team-mate Johnny Herbert, he took Benetton to its first Constructors’ Championship and became the youngest two-time world champion in Formula One history.

The season was marred by several collisions with Hill, in particular an overtaking manoeuvre by Hill took them both out of the British Grand Prix on lap 45 and again on lap 23 of the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher won nine of the 17 races, and finished on the podium 11 times. Only once did he qualify worse than fourth; at the Belgian Grand Prix, he qualified 16th, but went on to win the race.

Ferrari

In 1996, Schumacher joined Ferrari for a salary of $60 million over 2 years, a team which had last won the Drivers’ Championship with Jody Scheckter in 1979 and which had not won the Constructors’ Cup since 1983 with drivers René Arnoux and Patrick Tambay at the wheel. He left Benetton a year before his contract with them expired; he later cited the team’s damaging actions in 1994 as his reason for opting out of his deal. A year later, ex-Benetton employees Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn, who had been Technical Director at Benetton since 1991, and who was one of the key members behind Schumacher’s title successes with the team in 1994 and 1995, decided to join Schumacher at Ferrari. This increased Schumacher’s motivation to build a more experienced and potentially championship-winning team around him.

Ferrari had previously come close to the championship in 1982 and 1990. The team had suffered a disastrous downturn in the early 1990s, partially as their famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of their competitors. Various drivers, notably Alain Prost, had given the vehicles labels such as “truck”, “pig”, and “accident waiting to happen”. The poor performance of the Ferrari pit crews was considered a running joke. At the end of 1995, though the team had improved into a solid competitor, it was still considered inferior to front-running teams such as Benetton and Williams. Schumacher declared the Ferrari 412T good enough to win the Championship.

Schumacher, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Jean Todt (hired in 1993), have been credited as turning this once struggling team into the most successful team in Formula One history. Three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart believes the transformation of the Ferrari team was Schumacher’s greatest feat. Eddie Irvine also joined the team, moving from Jordan.

1996–1999

Schumacher finished third in the Drivers’ Championship in 1996, and helped Ferrari to second place in the constructors’ championship ahead of his old team Benetton. He won three races, more than the team’s total tally for the period from 1991 to 1995. During the initial part of the 1996 season, the car had had reliability trouble and Schumacher did not finish 6 of the 16 races. He took his first win for Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he lapped the entire field up to third place in the wet. In the French Grand Prix Schumacher qualified in pole position, but suffered engine failure on the race’s formation lap. However at Spa-Francorchamps, Schumacher used well-timed pit-stops to fend off the Williams’ Jacques Villeneuve. Following that, at Monza, Schumacher won in front of the tifosi. Schumacher’s ability, combined with the improving reliability of Ferrari, enabled him to end the season, putting up a challenge to eventual race and championship winner Damon Hill at Suzuka.

Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve vied for the title in 1997. Villeneuve, driving the superior Williams FW19, led the championship in the early part of the season. However, by mid-season, Schumacher had taken the Championship lead, winning five races, and entered the season’s final Grand Prix with a one-point advantage. Towards the end of the race, held at Jerez, Schumacher’s Ferrari developed a coolant leak and loss of performance indicating he may not finish the race. As Villeneuve approached to pass his rival, Schumacher attempted to provoke an accident but got the short end of the stick, retiring from the race. Villeneuve went on and scored four points to take the championship. Schumacher was punished for unsportsmanlike conduct for the collision and was disqualified from the Drivers’ Championship.

In 1998, Finnish driver Mika Häkkinen became Schumacher’s main title competition. Häkkinen won the first two races of the season, gaining a 16 point advantage over Schumacher. Schumacher then won in Argentina and, with the Ferrari improving significantly in the second half of the season, Schumacher took six victories and had five other podium finishes. Ferrari took a 1–2 finish at the French Grand Prix, the first Ferrari 1–2 finish since 1990, and the Italian Grand Prix, which tied Schumacher with Häkkinen for the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with 80 points, but Häkkinen won the Championship by winning the final two races. There were two controversies; at the British Grand Prix Schumacher was leading on the last lap when he turned into the pit lane, crossed the start finish line and stopped for a ten second stop go penalty. There was some doubt whether this counted as serving the penalty, but, because he had crossed the finish line when he came into the pit lane, the win was valid. At Spa, Schumacher was leading the race by 40 seconds in heavy spray, but collided with David Coulthard’s McLaren when the Scot, a lap down, slowed in very poor visibility to let Schumacher past. After both cars returned to the pits, Schumacher leaped out of his car and headed to McLaren’s garage in an infuriated manner and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him.

Rumours circulated that Coulthard may be replaced by Schumacher for the 1999 season and beyond and, in a previous edition of the F1 Racing magazine, Ron Dennis revealed that he had approached Schumacher to sign a deal with McLaren. However, peripheral financial issues that tied Schumacher with Ferrari, such as sponsorship agreements and payment, could not be rectified in a move to the rival team and so, no deal came to fruition.

Schumacher’s efforts helped Ferrari win the Constructors title in 1999. He lost his chance to win the Drivers’ Championship at the British Grand Prix at the high-speed Stowe Corner, his car’s rear brake failed, sending him off the track and resulting in a broken leg. During his 98 day absence, he was replaced by Finnish driver Mika Salo. After missing six races, he made his return at the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix, qualifying in the pole position by almost a second. He then assumed the role of second driver, assisting team mate Eddie Irvine’s bid to win the Drivers’ Championship for Ferrari. In the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix, Häkkinen won his second consecutive title. Schumacher would later say that Häkkinen was the opponent he respected the most.

2000–2004: World Championship years

Schumacher driving the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro F2002 at the 2002 French Grand Prix, the race at which he clinched the 2002 Drivers’ Championship, setting the record for the fewest races in locking up the title

During this period Schumacher won more races and championships than any other driver in the history of the sport. Schumacher won his third World Championship in 2000 after a year-long battle with Häkkinen. Schumacher won the first three races of the season and five of the first eight. Mid-way through the year, Schumacher’s chances suffered with three consecutive non-finishes, allowing Häkkinen to close the gap in the standings. Häkkinen then took another two victories, before Schumacher won at the Italian Grand Prix. At the post race press conference, after equalling the number of wins (41) won by his idol, Ayrton Senna, Schumacher broke into tears. The championship fight would come down to the penultimate race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix. Starting from pole position, Schumacher lost the lead to Häkkinen at the start. After his second pit-stop, however, Schumacher came out ahead of Häkkinen and went on to win the race and the championship.

In 2001, Schumacher took his fourth drivers’ title. Four other drivers won races, but none sustained a season-long challenge for the championship. Schumacher scored a record-tying nine wins and clinched the world championship with four races yet to run. He finished the championship with 123 points, 58 ahead of runner-up Coulthard. Season highlights included the Canadian Grand Prix, where Schumacher finished 2nd to his brother Ralf, thus scoring the first ever 1–2 finish by brothers in Formula One; and the Belgian Grand Prix in which Schumacher scored his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost’s record for most career wins.

In 2002, Schumacher used the Ferrari F2002 to retain his Drivers’ Championship. There was again some controversy, however, at the Austrian Grand Prix, where his teammate, Rubens Barrichello was leading but in the final metres of the race, under team orders, slowed down to allow Schumacher to win the race. The crowd broke into outraged boos at the result and Schumacher tried to make amends by allowing Barrichello to stand on the top step of the podium. At the United States Grand Prix later that year, Schumacher dominated the race and was set for a close finish with Barrichello. At the end he slowed down to create a formation finish with Barrichello, but slowed too much allowing Barrichello to take the victory. In winning the Drivers’ Championship he equalled the record set by Juan Manuel Fangio of five world championships. Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races, and Schumacher won the title with six races remaining in the season, which is still the earliest point in the season for a driver to be crowned World Champion. Schumacher broke his own record, shared with Nigel Mansell, of nine race wins in a season, by winning eleven times and finishing every race on the podium. He finished with 144 points, a record-breaking 67 points ahead of the runner-up, his teammate Rubens Barrichello. This pair finished 9 of the 17 races in the first two places.

Schumacher broke Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of five World Drivers’ Championships by winning the drivers’ title for the sixth time in 2003, a closely contested season. The biggest competition came once again from the McLaren Mercedes and Williams BMW teams. In the first race, Schumacher ran off track, and in the following two, was involved in collisions. He fell 16 points behind Kimi Räikkönen. Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix and the next two races, and closed within two points of Räikkönen. Aside from Schumacher’s victory in Canada, and Barrichello’s victory in Britain, the mid-season was dominated by Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, who each claimed two victories. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher led Montoya and Kimi Räikkönen by only one and two points, respectively. Ahead of the next race, the FIA announced changes to the way tyre widths were to be measured: this forced Michelin, supplier to Williams and McLaren among others, to rapidly redesign their tyres before the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher, running on Bridgestone tyres, won the next two races. After Montoya was penalised in the United States Grand Prix, only Schumacher and Räikkönen remained in contention for the title. At the final round, the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher needed only one point whilst Räikkönen needed to win. By finishing the race in eighth place, Schumacher took one point and assured his sixth World Drivers’ title, ending the season two points ahead of Räikkönen.

In 2004, Schumacher won a record twelve of the first thirteen races of the season, only failing to finish in Monaco after an accident with Juan Pablo Montoya during a safety car period when he briefly locked his car’s brakes. He clinched a record seventh drivers’ title at the Belgian Grand Prix. He finished that season with a record 148 points, 34 points ahead of the runner-up, teammate Rubens Barrichello, and set a new record of 13 race wins out of a possible 18, surpassing his previous best of 11 wins from the 2002 season.

2005–2006

Rule changes for the 2005 season required tyres to last an entire race, tipping the overall advantage to teams using Michelins over teams such as Ferrari that relied on Bridgestone tyres. The rule changes were partly in an effort to dent Ferrari’s dominance and make the series more interesting. The most notable moment of the early season for Schumacher was his battle with Fernando Alonso in San Marino, where he started 13th and finished only 0.2 seconds behind the Spanish driver. Less than half-way through the season, Schumacher said “I don’t think I can count myself in this battle any more. It was like trying to fight with a blunted weapon…. If your weapons are weak you don’t have a chance.” Schumacher’s sole win in 2005 came at the United States Grand Prix. Prior to that race, the Michelin tyres were found to have significant safety issues. When no compromise between the teams and the FIA could be reached, all but the six drivers using Bridgestone tyres dropped out of the race after the formation lap. Schumacher retired in six of the 19 races. He finished the season in third with 62 points, fewer than half the points of world champion Alonso.

2006 became the last season of Schumacher’s Ferrari career. After three races, Schumacher had just 11 points and was already 17 points behind Alonso. He won the following two races. His pole position at San Marino was his 66th, breaking Ayrton Senna’s 12 year old record.

Schumacher was stripped of pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix and started the race at the back of the grid. This was due to him stopping his car and blocking part of the circuit while Alonso was on his qualifying lap; he still managed to work his way up to 5th place on the notoriously cramped Monaco circuit. By the Canadian Grand Prix, the ninth race of the season, Schumacher was 25 points behind Alonso, but he then won the following three races to reduce his disadvantage to 11. His win at Hockenheim was the last home win for a German as of now. After his victories in Italy (in which Alonso had an engine failure) and China, in which Alonso had tyre problems, Schumacher led in the championship standings for the first time during the season. Although he and Alonso had the same point total, Schumacher was in front because he had won more races.

The Japanese Grand Prix was led by Schumacher with only 16 laps to go, when, for the first time since the 2000 French Grand Prix, Schumacher’s car suffered an engine failure. Alonso won the race, giving himself a ten point championship lead. With only one race left in the season, Schumacher could only win the championship if he won the season finale and Alonso scored no points.

Before the Brazilian Grand Prix, Schumacher conceded the title to Alonso. In pre-race ceremonies, football legend Pelé presented a trophy to Schumacher for his years of dedication to Formula One. During the race’s qualifying session, Schumacher had the best time of all drivers through the first two sessions; but a fuel pressure problem prevented him from completing a single lap during the third session, forcing him to start the race in tenth position. Early in the race Schumacher moved up to sixth place. However, in overtaking Alonso’s teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, Schumacher experienced a tyre puncture caused by the front wing of Fisichella’s car. Schumacher pitted and consequently fell to 19th place, 70 seconds behind teammate and race leader Felipe Massa. Schumacher recovered and overtook both Fisichella and Räikkönen to secure fourth place. His performance was classified in the press as “heroic”, an “utterly breath-taking drive”, and a “performance that … sums up his career”.

2007–2009: First Retirement

While Schumacher was on the podium after winning the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari issued a press release stating that he would retire from racing at the end of the 2006 season. Schumacher confirmed his retirement. The press release stated that Schumacher would continue working for Ferrari. It was revealed on 29 October 2006 that Ferrari wanted Schumacher to act as assistant to the newly appointed CEO Jean Todt. This would involve selecting the team’s future drivers. After Schumacher’s announcement, leading Formula One figures such as Niki Lauda and David Coulthard hailed Schumacher as the greatest all-round racing driver in the history of Formula One. The tifosi and the Italian press, who did not always take to Schumacher’s relatively cold public persona, displayed an affectionate response after he announced his retirement.

2007: Advisor at Ferrari

He attended several Grands Prix during the season. Schumacher drove the Ferrari F2007 for the first time on 24 October at Ferrari’s home track in Fiorano, Italy. He ran no more than five laps and no lap times were recorded. A Ferrari spokesman said the short drive was done for the Fiat board of directors who were holding their meeting in Maranello.

During the 2007 season Schumacher acted as Ferrari’s advisor and Jean Todt’s ‘super assistant’. On 13 November 2007 Schumacher, who had not driven a Formula One car since he had retired a year earlier, undertook a formal test session for the first time aboard the F2007. He returned in December 2007 to continue helping Ferrari with their development program at Jerez circuit. He focused on testing electronics and tyres for the 2008 Formula One season.

2008: Car development

In 2007, former Ferrari top manager Ross Brawn said that Schumacher was very likely and also happy to continue testing in 2008. Michael Schumacher later explained his role further saying that he would “deal with the development of the car inside Gestione Sportiva” and as part of that “I’d like to drive, but not too often.”.

During 2008 Schumacher also competed in motorcycle racing in the IDM Superbike-series, but stated that he had no intention of a second competitive career in this sport. He was quoted as saying that riding a Ducati was the most exhilarating thing he had done in his life, the second most being sky diving.

2009: Planned substitution for injured Massa

In his capacity as racing advisor to Ferrari, Schumacher was present in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix when Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was seriously injured after being struck by a suspension spring during qualifying. As it became clear that Massa would be unable to compete in the next race at Valencia Schumacher was chosen as a replacement for the Brazilian driver and on 29 July 2009, Ferrari announced that they planned to draft in Schumacher for the European Grand Prix and subsequent Grands Prix until Massa was able to race again. Schumacher tested in a modified F2007 to prepare himself as he had been unable to test the 2009 car due to testing restrictions. Ferrari appealed for special permission for Schumacher to test in a 2009 spec car but Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso were against this test. Schumacher was forced to call off his return due to the severity of the neck injury he had received in a motorcycle accident earlier in the year. Massa’s place at Ferrari was instead filled by Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella.

On 23 December 2009 it was announced Schumacher would be returning to Formula One in the 2010 season alongside fellow German driver Nico Rosberg in the new Mercedes GP team. On 16 November Mercedes had taken over the Brawn GP team which was their first majority involvement in an F1 team since 1955. Schumacher stated that his preparations to replace the injured Massa for Ferrari had initiated a renewed interest in F1 which, combined with the opportunity to fulfil a long-held ambition to drive for Mercedes and to be working again with team principal Ross Brawn, led Schumacher to accept the offer once he was passed fit. After a period of intensive training medical tests, it was confirmed that the neck injury that had prevented him driving for Ferrari the year before had fully healed.

Ross Brawn had contacted Schumacher over a potential return to F1 with Mercedes involvement in November 2009, seeking a substitute for the possibly outgoing driver Jenson Button. On November 2, Rubens Barrichello had left Brawn GP followed by Button on 18 November with Rosberg announced by Mercedes as the first replacement driver on 23 November. The possible return of Schumacher began being reported in the German press on 13 December and, ten days later, Mercedes confirmed Schumacher’s return completing their line-up. Schumacher signed a three year contract, reportedly worth £20m, with Mercedes who were thought to want 22-year-old German driver Sebastian Vettel as a long term replacement afterwards. In March 2010, The Daily Mail reported that Schumacher’s deal was closer to £21m (€24m, $32m) a year.

Schumacher’s surprise re-entry to the sport was compared to Niki Lauda’s return in 1982 aged 33 and Nigel Mansell’s return in 1994 at age 41. Schumacher turned 41 on 3 January 2010 and his prospects with Mercedes were compared with the record set by the oldest F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio who was 46 when he won his fifth championship.

2010: Return to Formula One

Schumacher’s first drive of the 2010 Mercedes car – the Mercedes MGP W01 – was at the official test on 2 February 2010 in Valencia. He finished sixth in the first race of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix. A fortnight later at the Australian Grand Prix Schumacher, after running as high as third on the opening lap, was caught up in a tangle between Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button at the start and had to pit for a new front wing. He came from the back to finish in the points in tenth position after spending 20 laps behind Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari. In the Malaysian Grand Prix Schumacher retired early in the race with a faulty wheel nut. Schumacher qualified 9th in the Chinese Grand Prix and finished 10th after being passed by several other drivers in the wet conditions towards the end of the race. After the race former driver Stirling Moss suggested that Schumacher, who had finished behind his team-mate in each of the first four qualifying sessions and races, might be “past it.” Many other respected former Formula One drivers thought otherwise, including former rival Damon Hill, who warned “you should never write Schumacher off.” GrandPrix.com identified the inherent understeer of the Mercedes car, exacerbated by the narrower front tyres introduced for the 2010 season, as contributing to Schumacher’s difficulties. Jenson Button shed some more light on Schumacher’s car trouble when he confessed that the Mercedes 2010 car was designed for him, and that his driving style is poles apart from Schumacher.

For the first European race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes upgraded their car with revised aerodynamics and a longer wheelbase. Schumacher was ahead of Rosberg in qualifying and the race finishing fourth after defending his position from reigning world champion Jenson Button after the pit stops. At the Monaco Grand Prix Schumacher qualified seventh and finished sixth after passing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on the final corner of the race when the safety car returned to the pits. However he was penalised 20 seconds after the race by the race stewards dropping him to 12th and thus out of the points. The stewards, advised by former world champion Damon Hill, judged the pass to be in breach of rule 40.13 of the sporting code stating that “If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.” Mercedes GP had interpreted “the race control messages ‘Safety Car in this lap’ and ‘Track Clear’ and the green flags and lights shown by the marshals after safety car line one” to mean that the race would not finish under the safety car. The FIA subsequently outlined plans to clarify the regulations and Mercedes GP dropped their plans to appeal.

In Turkey, Schumacher had his best qualifying session since his return qualifying fifth ahead of team mate Rosberg in sixth. In the race Schumacher finished fourth which was his best race finish since his return. However 2 races later at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Schumacher finished a lowly 15th – his lowest recorded finish in his career – after being caught up in a controversial safety-car ruling, which also ruined the race of Fernando Alonso. Schumacher was near the front of the field until he was stuck at the end of the pit lane, following the safety car, while the majority of the field passed him. In Hungary, Schumacher finished outside the points in eleventh, but was found guilty of dangerous driving at 180 mph (290 km/h) while unsuccessfully defending tenth position against Rubens Barrichello. As a result he was demoted ten places on the grid for the following race, the Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished seventh, despite starting 21st after his grid penalty.

In the Italian Grand Prix, Schumacher missed out on the top ten in qualifying but managed to finish ninth. A fortnight later at the Singapore Grand Prix, Schumacher finished 13th after the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld collided with him on Lap 36, knocking Heidfeld out of the race. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher finished sixth before a fourth and seventh in the next two races in Korea and Brazil. At the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Schumacher was involved in a major accident on the first lap, which occurred after Schumacher was spun around by his teammate Nico Rosberg. As Schumacher was trying to maneuver his car back around, Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India ploughed into his Mercedes head-on, barely missing his head. Nobody was hurt in the crash, but Schumacher said the crash had been “frightening.”

It was the first season since his début season in 1991 that Schumacher finished without a win, pole position, podium or fastest lap. He finished the season 9th with 72 points.

At the 2011 Wroom meeting in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, Fernando Alonso, the second most successful Formula One driver still racing, said of Schumacher: “He will be always super class; if the car is right, he will be a contender that we will fear most.”

2011

After an unsuccessful Australian Grand Prix, where he retired due to puncture damage, Schumacher had an average race in Malaysia, finishing in ninth place to score his team’s only points, generally battling it out with the midfield of the pack but ahead of team mate Rosberg, who finished 12th. A problem with his movable rear wing, also known as the drag reduction system resulted in Schumacher qualifying only 14th in China, but he worked his way up to 8th place during the race. He added more points with sixth place in Spain, and at the Canadian Grand Prix, Schumacher had arguably his best performance since returning from retirement. He finished in fourth position, but ran as high as second in a race which was almost entirely contested in wet conditions. Schumacher was passed late in the race by both Jenson Button, who went on to win the race, and Mark Webber, by the use of the DRS.

In Valencia, he crashed into the side of Vitaly Petrov’s Renault while exiting the pit lane, breaking his own front wing, meaning he had to pit again the following lap. This incident left him outside of the points, and eventually finished 17th. In Britain Schumacher locked his front tyres while running behind Kamui Kobayashi, attempted to take avoiding action, and again broke his front wing spinning Kobayashi 180 degrees. As well as pitting to replace the wing, Schumacher served a 10 second stop-go penalty for the incident. Although working his way up to ninth, Schumacher was unhappy with the result and described the Kobayashi incident as his misjudgement. He finished eighth at his home race in Germany, and retired in Hungary with gearbox failure.

Schumacher marked the 20th anniversary of his Formula One début at the Belgian Grand Prix. He set the fastest time in the first free practice session, but after a wheel came loose in qualifying, he had start last on the grid. Despite this, Schumacher put in a very strong performance, ending the race in fifth place and ahead of his team mate Rosberg. Schumacher continued his run of form at the Italian Grand Prix, qualifying eighth and finishing fifth. This race saw a notable duel with Lewis Hamilton for fourth place. Schumacher defended expertly against Hamilton’s faster car, but was also criticised for leaving insufficient overtaking space. After a retirement in Singapore due to contact with Sergio Pérez, Schumacher finished in sixth place at the Japanese Grand Prix, having led three laps during the race, the first time he had led a race since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix. In doing so, he became the oldest driver to lead a race since Jack Brabham in 1970.

In Korea, Schumacher started the race from twelfth, and was well within the points scoring positions when he was hit from behind by Vitaly Petrov, forcing both drivers to retire. In India, Schumacher struggled in qualifying and qualified twelfth, although he moved up to eleventh after Petrov was given a five-place grid penalty for the incident in Korea; Schumacher blamed his lack of pace on tyre vibrations he experienced on his final run.

After making up three places on the opening lap, Schumacher remained in the top ten for the entire race, eventually finishing fifth, ahead of team-mate Rosberg after overtaking him during the final round of pit-stops. At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Schumacher qualified eighth and had moved up to sixth after a few corners. He was ahead of Rosberg, and the pair battled over the position for the remainder of the first lap. Rosberg’s overtake eventually meant that he finished in sixth and Schumacher in seventh. Schumacher finished the season with a fifteenth place at the season finale at the Brazilian Grand Prix, following a collision early in the race with Bruno Senna which had forced him to pit for repairs. Schumacher finished the season in eighth place in the Drivers’ Championship standings with 76 points; his best result was fourth place at the Canadian Grand Prix.

2012

Schumacher is again driving for Mercedes AMG in the 2012 Formula One season, alongside Nico Rosberg. At the Australian Grand Prix, Schumacher qualified in fourth place. He moved up to third place at the start of the race, which he held until he suffered a terminal gearbox failure on lap 11. At the second race in Malaysia, Schumacher qualified third, but only managed to collect one point after being hit from behind on the first lap of the race by Romain Grosjean in wet conditions.

For the third race of the season in China, Schumacher qualified 3rd but started in 2nd place due to Lewis Hamilton being penalised. This was the first time since 1955 that Mercedes occupied the front row of the grid, since his team-mate Nico Rosberg scored the first pole position of his career. A mechanic’s error during the first pit-stop forced Schumacher to retire after 13 laps due to a loose wheel. The fourth race was in Bahrain. Schumacher suffered with a defective DRS mechanism in qualifying, which was compounded by a grid-penalty for a gearbox replacement. He started 23rd on the grid, and finished in 10th position. Schumacher had his third retirement of the season in Barcelona, receiving a five place penalty for Monaco after causing a collision with Bruno Senna.

Schumacher was fastest in qualifying at Monaco. However, owing to the penalty for his incident with Senna at Barcelona, he started sixth on the grid. At the start of the race, Schumacher was hit by Romain Grosjean as he attempted to move down the outside, dropping to eighth, before retiring from seventh position late in the race due to falling fuel pressure. The strain of bad luck continued in Canada where a miscalculation from the team in qualifying meant that he couldn’t make it over the line early enough to start his second flying lap. He qualified in 9th position as a result and then retired from the race after his second pit stop because of a jammed DRS flap.

Journalists and reporters approached Schumacher after the Canadian race talking about his bad luck. As of the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix, Schumacher had only finished twice out of 7 races, 4 of the non finishes due to mechanical/team failure. He had also been unlucky in qualifying in Bahrain, Monaco and Canada, particularly in Monaco where he qualified on pole but was awarded a 5 place grid penalty and therefore started 6th. Even though he only had 2 points at this stage, Michael had qualified extremely well with a 4th, two 3rds and one pole. He was running 3rd when he went out of the Australian Grand Prix and when he was hit in the Malaysian Grand Prix. He was also in 2nd when he retired from the Chinese Grand Prix.

In the European Grand Prix, things appeared to continue as they were with bad luck striking again in qualifying, only this time in a different way. There were no mechanical/team failures or accidents this time, it was just that he got knocked out in Q2 because there were only 0.280 seconds seperating P1 and P12 were Schumacher ended up. 0.280 seconds could have been enough to finish Q2 in 2nd position under normal circumstances. Things changed in the race where he finally got some luck at his side and was able to climb his way up to P3 and gain his first podium finish since 2006. At an age of 43 years and 173 days, he became the oldest driver to climb the podium since Jack Brabham’s second place finish at the 1970 British Grand Prix.

Getting a job in F1 is a big dream for many people who are passionate about technology. The apprentice and graduate program at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth, where the Formula One engines and hybrid systems are designed and developed, offer opportunities for talented young people to earn a place in the industry – and add practical experience to their theoretical learning.

The people who are already hard at work at the facility call their job demanding, but rewarding, and are all happy with their choice. If you want to follow in their footsteps and feel you are adequately qualified for the job, at the end of the video, there is a a link where you can find out more details on how to apply.

Good luck.

Seven-time Formula One world champion Michel Schumacher has announced that he will be retiring from the sport at the end of the 2012 season during a press conference at the Suzuka circuit in Japan.  For a look back at Michael Schumacher’s illustrious career, click here.

Michael Schumacher

I have decided to retire from Formula One at the end of the season, although I am still able to compete with the best drivers of the world. This is something that makes me proud, and this is part of why I never regretted my comeback. I can be happy with my performance and the fact that I was continuously raising my game during the last three years. But then, at some point it is time to say goodbye.

Already during the past weeks and months I was not sure if I would still have the motivation and energy which is necessary to go on; and it is not my style to do anything which I am not 100% convinced about. With today’s decision I feel released from those doubts. In the end, it is not my ambition to just drive around but to fight for victories; and the pleasure of driving is nourished by competitiveness.

I said at the end of 2009 that I want to be measured by my success, and this is why I had a lot of criticism in the past three years which partly was justified. It is without doubt that we did not achieve our goal to develop a world championship fighting car within those years. It is also without doubt that I cannot provide a long-term perspective to anyone. But then it is also clear that I can still be very happy about my overall achievements in Formula One.

In the past six years I have learned a lot, also about me, and I am thankful for it; for example, that you can open yourself up without losing focus. That losing can be both more difficult and more instructive than winning; something I had lost out of sight sometimes in earlier years. That you have to appreciate to be able to do what you love. That you have to live your convictions. I have opened my horizon, and I am at ease with myself.

I would like to thank Daimler, Mercedes-Benz and the team for their trust. But I also would like to thank all my friends, partners and companions, who over many good years in motorsport supported me. But most of all I would like to thank my family for standing always by my side, giving me the freedom to live my convictions and sharing my joy.

Nico Rosberg

This is a big loss for our sport. Michael did a huge amount to make Formula One so popular in Germany, and lots of fans switched on their TV sets because of him. He achieved so much. It has been and continues to be something special and a great experience for me to drive with him and against him. In the last three years we pushed the team hard together which will help us in the years to come. I wish him all the best for the future.

Ross Brawn, Team Principal – MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS

Having worked with Michael for so many years, it is an emotional day today as he announces his retirement from Formula One for the second, and final, time. We have enjoyed so many experiences together during our time at Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes, and I feel very proud, honoured and privileged to have had the opportunity to work with Michael so closely. In my opinion, he is the greatest Formula One driver, and the records which he holds in our sport speak volumes for his success and commitment. On behalf of everyone at our Silver Arrows team, we wish Michael all the best with his future plans and extend our sincere thanks to him for his commitment, passion and hard work during our three years together. We have not achieved the results that we would have wished during this time; however Michael’s contribution to our development and the future of our team has been significant. Whatever Michael decides to do next, I am sure that he will be keeping a close eye on our progress in the years to come.

Norbert Haug, Vice President – Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

Our team, Mercedes-Benz and Daimler would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to Michael for all his work, his exemplary commitment and his loyalty. For our brand, he was and remains not just a first-class racing driver and, through his record until 2006, the most successful of all time; but also a global idol and, last but not least, a great company ambassador who is admired across the world. Michael began his professional racing career in 1989 as a member of the Mercedes Junior Team in Group C Prototypes, and he will conclude it at the end of this season with our MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Silver Arrows works team, as he informed first us and then the international media today. Michael did a fantastic job during the build-up phase of our still-young Silver Arrows works team and, although we have not yet achieved our targets in our third season, Michael’s invaluable hard work has established the foundations for future success. For this, we give him our thanks and recognition. All of us in the team – and first and foremost Michael – are working hard to have six more races in which we can show a respectable level of performance together. Thank you, Michael, for everything: it was, and is, a pleasure to work with you.

The MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team announced today that they will be replacing legendary F1 driver Micheal Schumacher with 2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton. The agreement with Lewis Hamilton has been signed and is a three-year agreement to race for the team from the 2013 Formula One season on and is worth around 24 million. Leave it to Simon Fuller, who manages Hamilton through his XIX Entertainment, to get the big money for his client.

Lewis’ career has been supported by Mercedes-Benz and McLaren since its earliest days. In 2000, he and Nico Rosberg were team-mates at TeamMBM.com in Formula A karting. Lewis drove with Mercedes-Benz engines during his two seasons in the Formula 3 Euroseries, winning the 2005 championship, and every one of his 104 Formula One starts so far have been powered by the three-pointed star. Lewis is one of four drivers, along with Juan Manuel Fangio, Mika Häkkinen and Jenson Button, to have won the Formula One world championship with Mercedes-Benz power. With 20 Formula One victories, he is equal with Mika Häkkinen as the most successful Mercedes-Benz Formula One driver.

The recruitment of the 2008 world champion marks the start of a new chapter for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team. Lewis will replace Michael Schumacher, who has contributed significantly to the development of the Silver Arrows works team over the past three years. During this time, the team achieved the milestone of the first victory of the modern era for a works Silver Arrow, when Nico Rosberg won this year’s Chinese Grand Prix, and has scored five further podium finishes to date.

In parallel, Mercedes-Benz has put in place the right technical structure and given the team in Brackley and Brixworth the tools it needs to achieve long-term, durable success in Formula One. In the near future, three-time world champion Niki Lauda will also bring his extensive experience to the role of non-executive chairman of the team’s board of directors, further reinforcing the strength in depth at MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS.

The signing of Lewis Hamilton completes the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS driver line-up for the 2013 season alongside Nico Rosberg. Nico won his first Grand Prix this year in China and will enter his fourth season with our team.

Michael Schumacher

“I have had three nice years with the team which unfortunately did not go as well as we all would have wanted on the sporting side. I wish Lewis well and for the team to achieve the success we worked so hard for in the build-up. I would like to thank the team for their trust and all the guys for their unconditional commitment. I will now concentrate on the next races.”

Lewis Hamilton

“It is now time for me to take on a fresh challenge and I am very excited to begin a new chapter racing for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team. Mercedes-Benz has such an incredible heritage in motorsport, along with a passion for winning which I share.

“Together, we can grow and rise to this new challenge. I believe that I can help steer the Silver Arrows to the top and achieve our joint ambitions of winning the world championships.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal – MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS

“On behalf of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, I would first of all like to thank Michael Schumacher for the important contribution he has made to the growth of our team over the past three seasons. His energy and commitment have never wavered, even when results have not matched our own expectations, and we are determined to finish the 2012 season together on a high. As always, it has been a pleasure to work with Michael.

“Looking ahead to 2013, I am delighted to welcome Lewis Hamilton to our team. The arrival of a driver of Lewis’ calibre is a testament to the standing of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One and I am proud that Lewis shares our vision and ambition for the success of the Silver Arrows. I believe that the combination of Lewis and Nico will be the most dynamic and exciting pairing on the grid next year, and I am looking forward to what we can achieve together.

“Over the past three years, we have been putting in place the foundations and building blocks that are needed to compete regularly for the world championship. Behind the scenes, we have assembled a team that is technically stronger, more experienced and better resourced, thanks to the support of PETRONAS and all of our loyal team partners. The potential is now there to match any other team on the grid, which is the minimum standard for a Mercedes-Benz works team. Our task is now to translate that potential into on-track performance for next season and beyond.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President – Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Mercedes-Benz has supported Lewis throughout his career, from karting, to Formula 3, to our successful partnership with McLaren, and it will be a very nice moment for all of us in the team to see him at the wheel of a works Silver Arrow next season, following in the tradition of British Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix drivers Sir Stirling Moss and Richard Seaman.

“Of course, it takes a great driver to replace such a legendary and successful one as Michael Schumacher. Over the past three years, Michael has been a great driver and an exemplary ambassador for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS. His experience has been an important factor in guiding the development of our team in Brackley and we extend our sincere thanks to Michael for his loyalty, team play and commitment. We will be working very hard together in order to achieve the best possible results in the remainder of the 2012 season.

“The central task of any racing team is to deliver a car that allows the drivers to fully express their talents. In the 52 races for our works team, we have achieved a number of important milestones, including an historic victory for Nico Rosberg in China this year. We know that it is now time to take the next step, in order to deliver consistent front-running performances in the tradition of the Silver Arrows. Every single person in our team is working with total commitment and focus on achieving this ambition.”

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.

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.

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.”

MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS driver’s Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher both scored points in the Bahrain Grand Prix Sunday as the pair finished the 57-lap race inMERCEDES AMG PETRONAS driver’s Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.

Michael Schumacher qualified to start 18th, but dropped to 17th after Williams’ Pastor Maldonado took on a penalty, however after a late gearbox change was dropped five places to start the race in 22nd.  Schumacher managed to climb 12 positions through the field over the course of the race to finish in 10th, a very respectable position after such a difficult start the the weekend. Michael made three stops on laps 9, 23 and 37, also running an option/option/prime/prime strategy.  In the pits, the team averaged 22.216 seconds over six pit stops, Michael Schumacher had the day’s fastest three-stopper in the pits.

Though Rosberg found himself under investigation from the stewards after two aggressive-looking moves in which he swept from one side of the track in defence of position and in turn put Hamilton, and then Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the dirt, he was found to have done nothing wrong and finished the race in 5th.  It was a very hard fought race for Rosberg, running in P9 through the opening stint, then gaining places as the race went on.

Victory in Sunday’s 2012 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix went to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, followed by Kimi Räikkönen in 2nd, Romain Grosjean and Mark Webber in 3rd and 4th.

Nico Rosberg

“I had a pretty bad first lap today, but after that I was able to recover and get the most of our race. We had a good strategy and the pace of the car was pretty strong compared to the start of the season, although it was difficult to make progress as there were a lot of cars fighting for the same positions. Overall I’m happy with our weekend as fifth place gives me a few more points and I can see that we are making progress. Now we have a short break where we can work hard in the factory ready for the start of the European season. Before that, I’m looking forward to visiting the DTM opening race in Hockenheim next Saturday. It’s my first chance to return to Germany after two good weekends, particularly of course the win in China, and I look forward to celebrating that together with our fans.”

Michael Schumacher

“Considering where I started the race today, it’s a positive that I was able to fight up to 10th place, score a point and finish a dry race this season. The tyres obviously played a large part in the race today, and in the conditions here, we had to adapt the driving style to keep the tyres together. It will be good to have the time now before Barcelona to sort out some issues and prepare our updates for the test days in Mugello. Next weekend, the DTM starts in Hockenheim and I am looking forward to my first visit to a DTM race for twenty years.”

Ross Brawn

“That was a tough but ultimately rewarding race today. Nico didn’t get the best of starts and lost some positions which made the early part of the race difficult, but he had a very good drive to fight his way back up to fifth place. Michael did well to recover a point in 10th place, considering that he started at the back of the grid in 22nd. We saw again today that if you get the car right on the day, it makes a great deal of difference, with Red Bull and Lotus clearly getting their cars in better shape than we did. We will learn more lessons from today, however we made the best of what we had so I’m reasonably happy. Now we can look forward to some time back at the factory to improve the car before the next race.”

Norbert Haug

“Having started fifth, Nico was running in ninth by the end of lap one. More than to recover to fifth place was not possible afterwards. Following Nico’s victory in China, we handled the tyres quite well on this track in hotter temperatures, and we showed that we have a good base to work from. Michael came home in 10th place after starting in 22nd, which is a good result considering the extremely high level of competition this year. We are now looking forward to the next race in Barcelona where MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS will, like most of the teams, introduce upgrades which will be evaluated during the Mugello test.”

After a week of unrest among Daimler shareholders regarding the future of Mercedes in F1, Nico Rosberg took a commanding victory at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai Sunday. Starting from pole position, he took the checkered flag with a 20s margin over the second placed car, achieving his first win in Formula One.

• Nico ran a two-stop option/prime/prime strategy to win by 20.626 seconds over Jenson Button’s McLaren-Mercedes

• Michael was forced to retire on lap 13 after his right front wheel was not properly attached at his first pit stop

• This was Nico’s 111th Formula One start, and comes 111 years after Mercedes’ first win at the 1901 Nice Speed Weeks

• It’s the first win for a works Silver Arrow since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix, on 11 September in Monza – 25,671 days ago!

• The victory is the tenth in Formula One for a works Silver Arrow, and brings the total number of Mercedes-Benz F1 victories to 90

• Mercedes-Benz powered cars filled the podium for the second time in three years at the Chinese Grand Prix

The Mercedes AMG Petronas team completed a total of 89 laps, equivalent to one and a half Grand Prix distances at this circuit. The technical program focused on set-up changes, with intermediate tires required for the early part of P1. In P2, the Mercedes team worked on comparisons between the two dry tire compounds on a variety of fuel loads. At least one of the team’s drivers has finished in the top three of every Friday practice session so far in 2012.

Michael Schumacher

“It was a trouble-free day, and I am quite happy with how our car is handling so far here. The balance of the car was reasonably good, and obviously a balanced car contributes a lot to lap time. As a team, we are a lot stronger in certain areas this season, and we have a much better base to work from, although we are not quite where we want to be with this car yet but I am confident we will get there. We will now have to look deeper into the data in order to find out where we really are here, but I am looking forward to tomorrow’s qualifying.”

Nico Rosberg

“It’s important for us at the moment that we try a lot of different evaluations during practice to improve our race pace. So I think it was a decent start to the race weekend today as we learned quite a few interesting things. The conditions were so changeable today that it was difficult to take the right decisions in terms of set-up work, and we struggled a little with the front tyres. That may have been caused by the cold temperatures today, and can change very quickly between now and the race, so I am not too concerned.”

Ross Brawn

“We had a useful second session on the dry track this afternoon and were able to carry over some of the work that we wanted to do this morning to ensure that we completed our planned programme. Whilst our low fuel runs look good, our primary focus has been on race pace and working to understand the tyres so that we can use them as well as possible on Sunday.”

Norbert Haug

“We are not reading too much into today’s lap times but we are quite positive about what we have learned in terms of race simulations and the comparison between the tyre types on both our cars. In the limited time available after the wet first session, our team and drivers did a good job finding a solid basis to work from tomorrow.”