The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team had their first practice session for the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix today at the Istanbul Park circuit.  The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS drivers, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, spent the two ninety-minute sessions focusing on the evaluation of the team´s new developments for their MGP W01 cars and working on the balance, set-up and tyres around the challenging 5.338km circuit.

Nico Rosberg completed 47 laps and finished the day in sixth position while teammate Michael Schumacher completed 46 laps and finished in seventh position.

NICO ROSBERG

“We made some good progress today and have been working hard with our updates for the car. It wasn’t a perfect day as we lost some time in the process of evaluating the new developments, particularly in the second session, so I was playing catch-up this afternoon. However we achieved a lot of interesting work and arrived at a decent balance by the end of the day so I am reasonably happy. We have a few question marks remaining and it will be a busy final practice session tomorrow. The early indications are that we have made a decent step forward and although we don’t know how much yet, it is a good job from the guys at the factory and at the track to get everything here and working.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“It’s really difficult to judge what the current picture is after today’s practice sessions, especially as we don’t know who was running on what fuel loads. We certainly have some improvements on the car which you can notice but it is very difficult to quantify the full effects coming from Monaco to here and thus not having a clear reference and comparison. Clearly the improvements are in the right direction but as always it is a matter of how quick we develop compared to our competitors. Turn eight is still a nice challenge here. It has small surprises in terms of bumps and it is fun to drive obviously. It is exciting and technical at the same time. Let’s wait and see what is going to happen tomorrow.”

ROSS BRAWN

“Today’s two practice sessions were particularly busy for the team as we had our first opportunity to evaluate our new developments on the track. Without track testing it is always a challenge to bring new parts directly onto the car but we were able to achieve some good work today. Both drivers are reasonably happy but as always, we will not be able to make a valid judgement on our progress until the end of the weekend.”

NORBERT HAUG

“Quite a busy start into the weekend for us. The team evaluated different aero options and in the end our long run pace in race conditions looked quite promising.”

Mercedes GP PETRONAS team plan on appealing the decision to give Michael Schumacher a 20 second penalty for the overtaking incident at the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. It was unclear late in the race whether the safety car was still being used, thus causing much controversy at the end of the race with Schumacher being penalized.

Formula One rules state that if the race ends under a safety car, the vehicle will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and no overtaking is allowed. Mercedes GP PETRONAS felt that the instructions they were given suggested the race would not be finishing under the safety car and as a result Michael Schumacher overtook a rival coming into Anthony Noghes putting him across the finish line in sixth spot.

Race stewards however, felt that the seven-time World Champion breached safety rules, adding on the time penalty resulted in 12 place finish, landing him outside of the points.

Team Principal Ross Brawn said: “We believed that the track had gone green and the race was not finishing under a safety car when article 40.13 clearly would have applied. The marshals showed green flags and lights after safety car line one. On previous occasions when it has been necessary to complete a race under a safety car, full course yellows are maintained.”

As things stand now, Schumacher sits ninth in the drivers’ championship standings on 22 points.

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished the Monaco Grand Prix in seventh and twelfth places respectively today following an action-packed race around the Monte Carlo streets.

With Nico starting from sixth and Michael from seventh place on the grid, both drivers lost a position to Rubens Barrichello at the start which compromised their pace in the early part of the race. Michael made his pit stop on lap 19 with excellent work by the team’s pit crew enabling him to jump ahead of Rubens who pitted at the same time. Nico stayed out, taking advantage of a gap in the traffic to put in some flying laps, and made his stop on lap 28 to rejoin just behind his team-mate.

Michael crossed the finish line in sixth place after overtaking Fernando Alonso on the final lap of the race when the team believed that the track had gone green and racing had resumed after the fourth and final safety car period. Michael subsequently received a 20 second time penalty from the stewards after the race which the team is now appealing.

NICO ROSBERG:

“My expectations for this weekend were very high and therefore I am disappointed that we could only achieve seventh place. We had the speed for a front row position in qualifying and that should have given us the opportunity for a podium finish. In the race, I was able to manage my tyres well and put in quick laps once the cars ahead of me pitted and the track was clear. That was important for me to show that we were competitive here. I would like to say a big thank you to my team for their hard work this weekend and for preparing the best car of the season so far. It was crucial to get points and we will keep positive and look ahead to the next races.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER:

“My race today would have been pretty normal without the decision of the stewards afterwards. The start was interesting and it actually went according to plan. I managed to have a good pull-away but then I was a bit stuck and was caught by Rubens. So I had to wait for the opportunity to overtake and the team played it brilliantly. The crew was fantastic and thus the pit stop got me in front of him. The result in the very end, which put me back to twelfth place for now, was obviously disappointing for me and I can fully understand that we are appealing the decision. Our understanding was that the ‘safety car in, track clear’ message meant we were back to racing conditions, so I went for it and overtook Fernando.”

ROSS BRAWN:

“For parts of the race today, we were able to demonstrate the potential of the car here which was very frustrating considering what happened in qualifying. Losing a place to Rubens at the start with both drivers made it very difficult for us and we couldn’t run at our full pace which is the usual problem around Monaco where overtaking is so difficult. Thereafter Michael and Nico drove very well this afternoon. Nico was particularly impressive with a clear track and was the fastest car out there at that time. However the windows didn’t quite open for us today. It shows the subtlety of Monaco, you can have a fast car but if it’s not in the right place, then you can’t do anything with it. I would like to compliment our team on the fastest pit stop of the race which was crucial to get Michael out ahead of Rubens.

“With regard to the penalty given to Michael, we believed that the track had gone green and the race was not finishing under a safety car when article 40.13 clearly would have applied. The reason for the safety car had been removed, the FIA had announced ‘Safety Car in this lap’ early on lap 78 and the track had been declared clear by race control. This was further endorsed when the marshals showed green flags and lights after safety car line one. On previous occasions when it has been necessary to complete a race under a safety car, full course yellows are maintained, as in Melbourne 2009. On the last lap, we therefore advised our drivers that they should race to the line and Michael made his move on Fernando for sixth place. We have appealed the decision of the stewards.”

NORBERT HAUG:

“To start with the positives, we showed good speed here in Monaco, our best of the season so far, and hopefully we can take this forward into the next races. It was therefore bad that we had traffic problems during Q3 yesterday in addition to some self-inflicted issues. Today we suffered when Michael and Nico got stuck behind a slower car. Once Nico and Michael were in clean air, they showed good pace. Now we will concentrate on the next race in Turkey and hopefully we can develop a performance in Istanbul in two weeks time that will be as competitive as we could have been here in Monaco.”

After Saturday’s qualifying round on the streets of Monte Carlo, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher will start the Monaco Grand Prix in sixth and seventh positions.

Fighting with 23 cars for position on the 2 mile street curcuit, Michael and Nico were in need of only one run on the prime tires in Q1 to qualify for the second session. Nico switched to the option tires and set the quickets time in Q2 on his first run while Michael completed two run ending the session in seventh position.

During Q3, Michael and Nico went out for one run on the option tires but failed to get a good lap under their belt. Nico qualified in sixth position and Michael, down .046 seconds from Nico, qualified in seventh position.

NICO ROSBERG

“My pace has been really good here throughout the weekend and in the first two qualifying sessions today, so it was a disappointing result to only qualify in sixth position. I was hopeful of competing for the front row after our performance in Q2 but the final session just didn’t work out for us today. I had a lot of traffic to overcome and made a mistake on what should have been my fastest lap. Unfortunately the tyres were not at their best then for the final quick lap. It’s difficult to make up positions in the race here as overtaking is almost impossible. However you never know what can happen and we will work hard to try and finish in a better position tomorrow.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“Qualifying confirmed that the gaps between the teams are smaller here but not small enough to really get some profit out of it, which is what we would have wished obviously. We all had some concerns about qualifying because of the number of cars but I have to say that from my point of view, everybody did a great job. I had a clean situation most of the time, except for once unintentionally with Nico. I think we got out of the car what we could today and the positive news is that I am on the inside which is a good starting position and our starts have gone well recently. So we can at least hope to make up one or two positions for the race.”

ROSS BRAWN

“We had the chance for a better position today so we are disappointed with our performance in the final qualifying session. We didn’t quite get the track and the tyres together at the right time for both drivers and we didn’t keep them well enough informed of their relative track positions in Q3. The performance in Q2, particularly from Nico, is more indicative of what we should have been fighting for and it is obviously frustrating that we didn’t realise that potential. However the car is going well here in Monaco and it is a long race tomorrow so we are still in a reasonable position to have a good outcome to the weekend.”

NORBERT HAUG

“Not the qualifying results that we wanted to achieve here in Monaco. Nico posted the fastest time in Q2 with just a single outing which proved that our speed is there. Traffic in Q2 for both Nico and Michael, and a slight mistake in Nico’s only fast lap he could do under these circumstances, made it impossible to get better places on the grid than sixth and seventh. We certainly had the speed to end up in row one or two but could not use it as planned. This was today and tomorrow can possibly be a different story. Lots of things can happen during the race on this traditional street circuit and we certainly will not give up too early.”

The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher spent the morning tuning the set-up of their MGP W01 cars to the unique demands of the low-speed and high-downforce circuit. Michael completed 21 laps and finished the session in sixth place however a lengthy change required on Nico’s car cost him some track time and he completed 15 laps and ended the morning in 11th position.

The skies darkened with light rain towards the end of the afternoon session but not enough to require a change from slick tyres. Nico and Michael completed a busy programme with the two Bridgestone tyre compounds for the weekend. Their quickest laps, set whilst the track was completely dry, put Nico in second place and Michael in fifth position.

NICO ROSBERG

“Monaco is a very special and challenging circuit and we had a positive start to our weekend here today. We made good progress this afternoon after losing some time in the morning with a pushrod problem that we had to fix. The lap times looked quite promising in the second session and I felt very comfortable in the car. We were able to improve the set-up continuously and get the tyres working better as the session went on. So everything looks promising after the first day and I’m looking forward to getting on with qualifying on Saturday.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“Today’s practice was a lot of fun. You clearly have to say that Monaco is a very special place to drive and I really enjoyed it. I got back into the rhythm of the track, especially on the long runs, and I think we can be quite confident for tomorrow as the car is definitely quite reasonable to handle. The other teams who have a certain top speed advantage on other tracks at the moment do not have this advantage here, so the whole field comes a bit closer together which will make it a very interesting qualifying in my view. I am looking forward to it.”

ROSS BRAWN

“As always at Monaco, the track conditions evolved rapidly today and it was important to make full use of the available practice time. We lost some running with Nico this morning but he did well to come back and find reasonable solutions for the set-up. We followed our usual practice programme of set-up, fuel load and tyre comparisons today. Our low fuel pace seems reasonable but we have more work to do on high fuel before Sunday. Overall a reasonable start to the weekend and we are enjoying the unique challenge and working environment that Monaco provides.”

NORBERT HAUG

“Quite a promising start to the weekend for us today and certainly a different picture from what we saw last Sunday in Barcelona. Nico and Michael’s lap times on both types of tyres with lesser fuel as well as during race simulation runs looked not bad at all. There is definitely more work to do before Saturday but so far so good.”

In preparation for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, the Mercedes GP PETRONAS team took some time to tour the beautiful city of Monte Carlo.  They also sat down for the cameras to speak briefly about the race, noting the uniqueness of the Monaco Grand Prix in that it’s a highly technical course and one in which aerodynamics play far less of a role than on other courses.  If you’re a race fan, you can check out the video along with photos of the Mercedes GP PETRONAS team both on and off the track in Monte Carlo (including the new Mercedes GP PETRONAS Motor Home) immediately below.

The Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo is one of the highlights of the Formula One calendar and the sixth round of the 2010 World Championship. The much anticipated race takes place around the famous street circuit on Sunday May 16, 2010. The Monte Carlo streets have been a highly victorius circuit for Mercedes-Benz engines which have powered seven of the last 12 winning cars, including the victors of the last three races.

NICO ROSBERG

“The Monaco Grand Prix is my home race and it’s always an enjoyable weekend. Formula One brings a real atmosphere to my home town and it’s very special to have all of my family and friends there to support me over the weekend. Living so close to the track is helpful too! After a rewarding first four races, Barcelona was disappointing, so we will hope to see an improvement for Monaco and we will work hard to understand our issues from last weekend. Monaco is a completely different circuit with its own unique challenges and characteristics so it will be interesting to see how the car goes there. I had a good race last year, qualifying and finishing in sixth place, so it would be nice to go a few places better this time.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“I have always liked to drive in Monaco and that’s why I am really looking forward to competing there this weekend. The Monaco Grand Prix certainly adds something very special to the Formula One calendar and driving through the streets of Monte Carlo is undoubtedly unique. We go there and hope that the characteristics of the street circuit suit our car better than in Spain last weekend. On the other hand, we should be careful to expect too much this time as we have seen in Barcelona that there is still a lot of work ahead of us. So, other than having achieved my best result so far this season, I have taken with me a lot of motivation to work even harder with our engineers to improve the car further.”

ROSS BRAWN

“The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most challenging race weekends of the year but everyone revels in the special atmosphere and as engineers, we love the unique demands and the extra pressure that the street circuit generates. In addition to a car which is strong mechanically, you need good power and drivability, provided by our Mercedes-Benz engine, for the low-speed corners.

Monaco requires a particular set-up and therefore whilst we will run our new aero package but we will revert to our previous specification suspension system to allow for the steering lock required around this unique circuit. The drivers play their role at Monaco perhaps more so than at any other track. Precision, consistency, speed and control are essential and with Michael and Nico, we are fortunate to have two drivers who excel here. Together with Mercedes-Benz, we achieved the dream result of a one-two finish last year, and whilst we are not at the pace of the frontrunners at the moment, at Monaco you just never know what can happen.”

NORBERT HAUG

“The Grand Prix of Monaco is the most spectacular, most popular and most glamorous event on the race calendar. If teams and drivers could choose one race that they desperately want to win, then their choice would be Monaco. Mercedes-Benz has mostly found the unique street circuit in the Principality to be a place for great results. Starting with our first victory in 1998, we have won seven of the last 12 Grands Prix together with our partners, the last three being a hat-trick in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

With our new team, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS, we currently do not belong in the absolute favourites for race victories. However the Monaco Grand Prix is known for its own rules and we will work fully concentrated on achieving a good result. With Michael and Nico, we have two drivers who both like this circuit and in my view, both belong among the fastest drivers on this special and demanding circuit.”

The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg had its highs and lows at the Spanish Grand Prix Sunday.  Michael Schumacher finished just shy of the podium with a fourth place finish, his best placement this season.  Nico Rosberg’s race however, plagued by incidents, will not go down as a highlight for him this season. Nico’s race was compromised at the very beginning of the race and again at his first stop leaving him battling the pack for a 13th place finish.

Michael retained his starting position into the first corner whilst Nico was pushed wide onto the grass and dropped to eleventh place by the end of lap one. Both drivers pitted on lap 14 to switch from option to prime tyres but a problem with the right front wheel led to a lengthy stop for Nico who rejoined in 17th place.

Michael jumped up to fifth position after the first round of pit stops and had an entertaining battle with Jenson Button to retain that place before taking advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s retirement to cross the line in fourth position. Nico pitted again on lap 35 for a further set of options and continued his fight through the field to finish in 13th place.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
“It was quite an entertaining race right from the start even if we knew from the beginning that there would not be a chance for us to compete for a podium place if everything goes as normal. Still it was exciting for me to manage to keep the position that I gained but then, I am obviously not too happy as today we could only defend. All we could do was to hope for reliability problems of others in order to make up positions and that’s not really what you want to do. It was an interesting fight with Jenson but all I could do is try to not give him a possibility to overtake. In the end the gap to the front is just too big to be really happy after this race. For Monaco, we hope that the characteristics of the track will suit our car better.”

NICO ROSBERG
“The race didn’t go my way today and, of course, it is frustrating to have finished outside of the points for the first time this season. We have a good upgrade on the car here which should be improving our performance but it just hasn’t worked out for me here. In qualifying, I did the best that I could but starting from eighth position isn’t where we wanted to be this weekend. In the race, I had the situation with Robert at the start when I tried for the gap but he didn’t see me so I was pushed wide and then we had a problem at my first stop which dropped me back again. So it’s been a disappointing weekend and we need to look into the reason why we have been off our usual pace.”

ROSS BRAWN
“Well done to Michael and the team for their hard work today. Michael has driven extremely well all weekend to continue the progress that he made over the first three races of the season and achieve his best finish with our team. Nico has had a more difficult time and we will look closely into the reasons why he has struggled this weekend. Although we have made a step forward with the performance of our car, the evidence shows that our competitors have also improved and our step is not enough to enable us to compete where we would like to be. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us and I remain confident that we have the ability and resources to close the gap, but it will be a tough fight.”

NORBERT HAUG
“Michael’s fourth place is the best result that we could have achieved today. He posted a remarkable drive with very committed overtaking and then keeping the reigning World Champion and current points leader Jenson Button behind him. Our speed was not good enough however to compete at the front in qualifying or the race. Nico was compromised on lap one by the manoeuvres of a competitor which lost him four places. We will work hard to improve our speed and I am sure that we will achieve this step-by-step but certainly not overnight. I am happy for Michael and the team today and in five races, our best results per race have been P5, P5, P3, P3 and now P4. These results have been more or less the maximum we could have achieved which is pleasing but we are aware that winning is our target and not bringing home respectable places.”

The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS pair of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg qualified in sixth and eighth positions respectively for Sunday’s race, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Michael and Nico progressed easily through Q1 with both drivers using the prime tires for two runs. Michael completed just one run on the options in Q2 for sixth place with Nico completing two runs and going through in tenth position.

Q3 saw both drivers complete two three-lap runs on the options to end the session with Michael in sixth place on the third row of the grid, and Nico in eighth position which will see him start directly behind his team-mate on row four.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
“Today’s qualifying was straightforward in my view. We had a good car yesterday meaning that conditions were quite ideal for us in terms of balance and so on. Today admittedly, the car was not as perfect. It is little things that can trigger that change one way or the other, and whatever happened today just triggered us to fall over the edge towards the downside a little. Nevertheless, I feel a lot more comfortable driving the car that I have in my hands now. But there is a maximum that you can get out of it and that is what we have achieved today.”

NICO ROSBERG
“It’s been a difficult weekend for me and we need to look into the reasons for this and understand why. The changes that we have made with the car are obviously good and we have made a step forward but I haven’t really been able to use the improvements so far. Considering that I have found the car difficult to drive and haven’t had the best of set-ups, our performance today was acceptable but it’s not where I wanted to be fighting this weekend.”

ROSS BRAWN
“I am pleased with the performance of our drivers today with Michael and Nico doing a good job. Michael has continued the progress that we saw in the first three races whilst Nico hasn’t been completely happy with the car this weekend and that reflects in his position. I am comfortable that we have made progress but other teams have also moved forward so we have further work to do. I’m not happy with the overall performance, but I am confident that if we hadn’t done all of the work that we have, we would have been much further back. It’s evident that this has happened to the teams who have not made progress since the last race. There are some positive signs but we need to be faster.”

NORBERT HAUG
“We have certainly improved our car considerably since the beginning of the season but other teams have improved as well and the third and fourth rows are not where we hoped to start this important first race of the European season. Michael has done a very good job since the first lap here in Barcelona with Nico closing the gap to his team-mate from half a second yesterday to just over a tenth today. But of course sixth and eight places are not where we want to start a race from and we will be working very hard to improve that position as soon as possible.”

Formula One’s European season got underway today as the first two practice sessions for the Spanish Grand Prix took place at the Circuit de Catalunya just outside of Barcelona.  The focus for today’s running for the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team was to evaluate the changes and upgrades made to the MGP W01 cars for this weekend. In addition to checking the aero balance and weight distribution with the new developments, the team worked through a number of set-up changes and tyre evaluations.

Michael and Nico completed 40 laps and 46 laps respectively over the course of the day with Michael finishing in third position in both sessions and Nico finishing in sixth place this morning and seventh position this afternoon.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
“Today I felt much more comfortable in the car and feel that it is behaving more consistently. In my view, our upgrade is a step forward but we have to wait and see how big the step is as the other teams have obviously improved as well. Now we have to deeply analyse the data to get a better overview on the actual situation and as usual after the Friday practice sessions, it is difficult to estimate where you actually are in comparison to our competitors. We will only have the real picture after qualifying tomorrow.”

NICO ROSBERG
“It was a challenging day for me today and not where I usually end up after the Friday practice sessions. There are no obvious issues on the aero package but we went wrong on the set-up whilst trying something new. I am confident that we will make progress overnight and tomorrow we will be able to extract the full potential from the car.”

ROSS BRAWN
“We had a reasonable day and covered a great deal of work to gather all of the set-up information that we needed with our upgrade package. Michael and Nico followed different programmes and therefore this evening we need to bring all of the data together and decide how we run the cars tomorrow. The new developments performed pretty much as we expected however all of the teams have moved forward here and the target is constantly moving. It looks like we have kept up but we still have to find more pace to compete right at the front.”

NORBERT HAUG
“Our upgrade package for the start of the European season seems to work as anticipated and it was visible on track and on the timing sheets that Michael was quicker and felt more comfortable today than at the last race in China three weeks ago. Nico was less happy with his car today but the data after the session shows where we went in the wrong direction with the set-up so Nico should be back tomorrow to the strength that he showed in the previous four races. Our pace during the race simulations didn’t look too bad but there is definitely still quite a gap to the quickest cars. We will work hard to make another step tomorrow. Today it is not possible to judge whether the competitive order has changed compared to the last races but everybody will find out tomorrow.”

On 29 April, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon conferred a knighthood in the Legion of Honour (Légion d’Honneur) on Michael Schumacher for his lifetime achievements in Formula One.

The ceremony was also attended by Team Principal Ross Brawn, Michael’s wife Corinna and FIA President Jean Todt. Michael said: “I feel very honoured and proud to have received this award. The ceremony was very solemn and moving. Afterwards we had the opportunity to meet up with some close friends in Paris.”

In his laudatory speech, Fillon declared: “In order to find a comparable achievement, we would need to go back to the very earliest days of Formula One. We were convinced at the time that Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of five championship titles would never be matched again. But you have surpassed even the most illustrious of your predecessors.”

The Légion d’Honneur is an order of the French state first established in 1802 to reward military and civilian service, outstanding talent and great virtue. Membership of the Legion is the highest honour that the French state can confer.

With the first four flyaway races completed, the Formula One calendar moves to Europe next weekend for Round Five of the 2010 World Championship. The Spanish Grand Prix takes place at the Circuit de Catalunya, located just outside of Barcelona, on Sunday 9 May.

NICO ROSBERG

“It’s a very nice feeling to be going into the European season with second place in the Drivers’ Championship and with a significant upgrade for our car in Barcelona next weekend. From talking to the guys at the factory, I know that they having been working really hard to get everything ready on time and it will be interesting to see the effect that the new developments have on the car. Barcelona is such a familiar circuit as we have tested there so often over the years that we should be able to spend the practice sessions just focusing on getting the most out of the upgrades. Returning to Europe is when the season feels like it really gets underway and we will be doing our best to continue our good run and podium finishes from the first four races. I’m looking forward to it!”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“The European season is about to kick off and now we will see how our developments look in relation to those of the other teams. Every team will come to Barcelona with a revised car and so of course do we. I see a lot of potential here especially as our team has been reacting very well over the past four races. We have worked on general improvements to the car, as well as specific developments in downforce and efficiency, and I am confident that we have room to make further progress in the future. Our step forward in Barcelona will be bigger than you can make at each race during the flyaways but it would not be realistic to expect us to suddenly be competing right at the front. I am hoping for a better race in Barcelona than I had in China and of course I would not mind having had better results so far. However the good news is that after three years away, I am feeling extremely motivated. So I am clearly ready to take this challenge.”

ROSS BRAWN

“The start of the European season is the first opportunity to make significant changes to the car and the Spanish Grand Prix will see the first step in our development programme for the MGP W01. In addition to a major aerodynamic and bodywork package, we have made changes to the wheelbase of the car which will help the overall handling and weight distribution. Michael will use a different chassis for Barcelona as we take the opportunity of having the cars back at the factory after the flyaway races to repair some damage to his original chassis. He will switch to our first chassis which was previously used during the pre-season tests. Everyone at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth has worked extremely hard to ensure that the cars and our new developments are ready for Barcelona following the delayed return from China and we look forward to evaluating the impact on our pace whilst remaining conscious that this is very much a first step in improving our competitiveness.”

NORBERT HAUG

“The start of the European season in Barcelona will be a very important race to establish whether the competitive order of the field has changed as every top team will introduce technical upgrades. Our MGP W01 will have the first set of significant changes which will be followed by a defined rhythm of further upgrades, all of which are aimed at getting our car to the very top of the field. After the first four flyaway races in Bahrain, Australia, Malaysia and China, Nico is currently second in the Drivers’ World Championship which shows that he and our MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team have done a good job in the first fifth of the season getting the best results from the material available. Michael did not have such a good run, mostly without his fault, in the first four races. I am absolutely convinced that this will change sooner rather than later.”

Nico Rosberg insists he is taking nothing for granted despite his strong start to the 2010 Formula One season. The 24-year-old has finished on the podium in the last two races to move onto 50 points in the drivers’ standings, which puts him in second spot, ten points off the lead.

Meanwhile, he has also out-qualified and finished ahead of Mercedes GP PETRONAS team-mate Michael Schumacher in all four races so far, despite the seven-time World Champion’s greater experience. Rosberg added that he was happy with the way that the partnership between the pair has developed over the course of the season.

He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “People probably have the wrong opinion on Michael. I myself thought that it wouldn’t be a good thing to have him as team-mate, when instead I’m positively surprised about it. “I’m happy to be ahead of him but I don’t know how long it will last. I would have been content to be at his level. Now I hope I can carry on fighting with him.”

Schumacher has achieved ten points from the four races, ensuring Mercedes GP PETRONAS lie fourth in the constructors’ championship.

A host of upgrades are set to be added to Michael Schumacher’s car ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix in a bid to kickstart the German’s 2010 Formula One season. The Mercedes GP PETRONAS driver’s best result of the campaign so far was his sixth-place finish at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

In a bid to improve the speed of Michael Schumacher’s MGP W01 car, the team is set to feature a host of aerodynamic upgrades. These will include a longer wheelbase to generate more front-end downforce and a change of chassis.

Mercedes GP PETRONAS Team Principal Ross Brawn said: “The one he had got damaged during the first few races and we repaired it as best we could at the races.” “But now we are back at base we are going to re-introduce the test chassis and he will be using that in Barcelona.”

Brawn added that Schumacher is not struggling to challenge at the front of the grid because of a lack of skill, but because his car is in need of tuning.

The Spanish Grand Prix is taking place on May 9th, with Schumacher finishing second the last time he took part in the race in 2006.

Kicking things off this beautiful April morning, we’ve got a behind-the-scenes look at a SLS AMG Gullwing commercial starring Michael Schumacher that we thought was new but actually made its debut back in January.  In it, Schumacher takes a turn in the new model, and surrounded by his support team, attempts to perform a rather arduous driving feat.  I won’t give away any more details, as you can watch the video below and see the action for yourself.  When you’re finished, you can check out the additional behind-the-scenes photos from the Schumacher SLS AMG commercial filming showing various setups, storyboards, etc. that went into the making of the ad.  Thanks to Markus Jordan for the photos.

Nico Rosberg, of Mercedes GP Petronas, drove an excellent race in the challenging and constantly changing weather conditions to achieve third place in the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit today. This was Nico’s second consecutive podium finish, the first at the Malaysian Grand Prix placing third.

Intermittent showers throughout the race put the emphasis on making the right strategic calls as Nico stayed on slick tyres for the first phase, leading the race from lap 3 for 16 laps, before switching to intermediates as the conditions steadily worsened.

Michael Schumacher had an eventful race, coming into the pits a total of four times on his way to a tenth placed finish for the final points scoring position, as he managed his worn intermediate tyres.

After four races as the Formula One calendar returns to Europe, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS are in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship with Nico in second position in the Drivers’ Championship.

NICO ROSBERG

“It’s fantastic to be on the podium for the second race in succession. It was an eventful race and we made very good choices which put us in contention for the result today. Following advice from Jock and the team, I decided to stay out on slicks and give it a go when the first showers hit. I was out there just thinking please stop raining! But it was the right call and it was a nice feeling to be leading the race for a while. When it started raining again, I suffered quite badly from tyre degradation on the intermediates and Jenson was able to get past. We didn’t seem to quite have the pace on inters but third place is great and we’ve made a step in the right direction this weekend. There’s more to come from the team so it’s really good to be heading into the European season with some strong results and second place in the Drivers’ Championship.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“Today was one of those races that you do not want to remember, just like the whole weekend really. It was not good for me and not good from me. You have to take it as another experience and accept it even if it is frustrating that I was not able to get my tyres together better. My strategy in that respect was not very impressive as in the last 10 laps my tyres were just gone and seemed to be more slicks than intermediates. I was one of those drivers who had gone onto the last set quite early and we should have done that differently and positioned the tyres better. In general I had some good and tight fights which was fun but with my last stop being probably too early, in the end I just couldn’t do anything and my fights were quite hopeless then. Congratulations to Nico who made it to the podium and at least one of us scored good points. I am looking forward to going home now but let’s see if we manage to!”

ROSS BRAWN

“We had a very good race with Nico today. He drove extremely well in difficult conditions and the team did everything right on the tyre stops, making good strategic decisions. We lost some of our advantage with the safety car which was a shame but overall an excellent day and a great drive from Nico. With Michael, we clearly had a more difficult time but at least we got a point out of it. We have some issues that we need to understand as the deterioration of his tyres and therefore his pace is a problem that we need to resolve before the next race. We haven’t quite got the car at the moment but when we do, we know that we can get the job done.”

NORBERT HAUG

“A great result for Nico and everybody at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS today. Well done to all of our team members on the second podium in a row with two third places for Nico and our team. Nico is now second in the points standings after four races and certainly one of the most remarkable drivers of this young season. Congratulations to our friends at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and to Jenson and Lewis for their one-two result. This was the 70th victory for a car with Mercedes power since Melbourne 1997 here in this important Chinese market for Mercedes-Benz. A special thank you from my side and on behalf of our Board to all of the hard-working guys at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth and Stuttgart. A great job from you all! It was not a good race weekend for Michael unfortunately. We will investigate what the problems were and I am convinced we will all see much stronger results from him rather sooner than later.”

Nico and Michael progressed easily through Q1 in second and ninth positions respectively after completing two runs each on the prime tyre. Nico needed just one run on the options in Q2 to secure second place with Michael completing two runs, also on options, to go through in tenth position.

A competitive final qualifying session saw Nico complete a further two runs on the softer compound with his quickest lap achieving a strong fourth position, just 0.010s away from Alonso in third place. Michael struggled more with the balance of his car throughout the hour and qualified in ninth position.

Nico Rosberg will start from the second row of the grid for the Chinese Grand Prix after achieving fourth place in qualifying today at the Shanghai International Circuit. Team-mate Michael Schumacher starts from ninth position.

NICO ROSBERG

“Fourth place is quite a nice surprise and I’m very pleased that we seem to have made a step forward this weekend. We really got the most out of the car in qualifying and I’ve worked well with my engineer Jock and the team to improve the car and get the set-up right this weekend. We didn’t think we would be this far up the grid today as we were struggling in practice this morning compared to the McLarens but to be level with the quickest Ferrari and a bit closer to the Red Bulls is very satisfying. It’s a good step for us and we’re well placed to have a good race tomorrow.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“I am obviously disappointed about my qualifying. It didn’t really come together today. In certain areas I was just not quick enough and at some corner exits, I struggled a bit with rear end grip. I haven’t really found the balance of the car all weekend. It will be tough to be too optimistic for tomorrow from my grid position but then I had some good starts lately and there is always room for lots of things to happen in Formula One races. We can still achieve some good points and I am definitely going to go for it.”

ROSS BRAWN

“Well done to Nico and the team for an excellent performance in qualifying today. Fourth position is certainly ahead of where we expected to be this weekend and Nico drove very well in all three qualifying sessions to put himself in contention for a strong race tomorrow. Michael has not achieved such a good balance on the car this weekend and had a less satisfying day. However he will give it everything in the race tomorrow and should have the opportunity to show the progress made since the start of the season.”

NORBERT HAUG

“A great job from Nico and the team on a very demanding track. Nico’s lap puts him in fourth place and less than one and a half tenths from the front row and closer to the pole time than in the previous races. Hopefully we can repeat a similar performance tomorrow. We were the third fastest team today, ten thousandths of a second down to the second fastest, so a good job from everybody. Michael was not so happy with his car but he is in a good position to score the points tomorrow that he could not achieve in the last two races through no fault of his own. There seems to be a chance of rain during the race so it will be interesting to see how it develops.”

Round four of the 2010 Formula One calendar takes place this weekend in China with the first of the practice sessions getting underway today at the Shanghai International Circuit.  The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS pair of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg finished the morning session in second and fourth places having focused on developing the mechanical and aerodynamic set-up of their MGP W01 cars.

The afternoon session saw further work on set-up and a tyre programme with the soft and hard compounds in use at Shanghai this weekend. Nico and Michael again finished the session in second and fourth positions having completed 39 and 42 laps respectively over the course of the day.

NICO ROSBERG

“We made good progress on the set-up over the course of the day and tried some new directions which all seemed to work ok. I did lose a little bit of balance with too much oversteer at the end of the afternoon so we need to look into the reasons for that. The long runs were pretty good on my side and with the work that Michael completed, we should be in a good position on our tyre evaluations. The pattern looks pretty similar to Malaysia in terms of our pace compared to other teams but we’ll have to wait and see how it works out tomorrow.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“Today’s practice sessions went better than I had expected. The handling was pretty much ok and it seems that we have made a small step forward. We brought some improvements here including the new rear wing which have helped. So I am quite confident for the rest of the weekend even if the overall ranking will not change much from the first three races. I was a bit unlucky this morning as I had a puncture on my rear left prime tyre so we had to use one from the afternoon’s allocation. That meant I only had three new tyres in the second session but it worked out fine in the end.”

ROSS BRAWN

“Generally a positive day and initial evaluations are that we have made some progress with the car. As we know the two tyres well now, we focused more on the mechanical and aerodynamic set-up of the car today. We are not quite there with the balance over the entire lap but Nico and Michael achieved some respectable lap times. We are improving step-by-step but there is a long way to go and we won’t be happy until we can consistently compete with the cars ahead.”

NORBERT HAUG

“A very busy day today with a lot of learning for us. Our lap times in race trim did not look too bad in my view and both Nico and Michael have been reasonably quicker with lesser fuel. Having said that, I am not expecting that a lot has changed in terms of performance amongst the teams since the Malaysian Grand Prix a fortnight ago. We still have some fine tuning to do in tomorrow’s third practice session and I hope we can make a further step forward from today.”

International motor racing came to China (i.e. the People’s Republic of China) first in the mid nineties with races of the BPR Series, a sports car championship.  They staged races on a temporary street circuit in down- town Zhouhai south of Hong Kong.  In 1996, the race moved to a new track outside the city and the organisers hoped for a Formula One Grand Prix in China already at that time, however, the track didn’t match the requirements of the FIA.

The Shanghai International Circuit is located in the countryside to the Northeast of Anting Town, Jiading District, Shanghai City.  The whole site covers an area of 2.5 square kilometres with the grandstands offering seats for about 200,000 spectators.  More than 2 million cubic meters of earth material were filled into the area of the auto racetrack and nearly 40,000 batches of pile foundation were laid into the racetrack area for consolidating ground foundation. The steel used in the top of the primary stand reached over 5,000 tons of a total 12,000 tons used for the entire project.  The track which has the shape of the Chinese symbol ‘Shang’, which translates as ‘high’ or ‘above’ was completed within 18 months.

The Shanghai International Circuit is the biggest race track in Asia with a grand stand capacity for about 200,000 spectators.  It cost 240 million US dollars and matches the latest standards.  The track was designed by the leading architect Hermann Tike.

Two years ago, McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton started from pole position, posted the fastest race lap and won – an important step towards his World Championship title which he clinched two weeks later in Brazil.

Track Records:

• Lap Record – Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1m32.28sec (2004)

• Fastest Lap 2009 – Rubens Barrichello (Brawn Mercedes) 1m52.592sec

• Pole Position 2009 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Renault) 1m36.184sec

To learn more about the Chinese Grand Prix, the Shanghai International Circuit, and a variety of other interesting F1 information, we invite you to view the full gallery packed with digital racefacts below (don’t forget you can click the images in the gallery to make them easier to read).

The 2010 Formula One World Championship continues next weekend for the fourth round with the Chinese Grand Prix. The Chinese Grand Prix is set to take place at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday 18 April.

NICO ROSBERG

“Shanghai is a good track which is an enjoyable challenge for the drivers. The two long straights provide some decent overtaking opportunities and there’s a great mix of corners, particularly the high-speed sections. The weather will be colder in Shanghai than at the previous three races and can be quite unpredictable so it should be an interesting weekend. The fans in China are so enthusiastic and Shanghai itself is a great city so I always enjoy our annual visit. Achieving my first podium with the team in Malaysia at the last race was fantastic and I’m looking forward to continuing our consistent run of good results in China next weekend.”

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

“The enthusiasm for Mercedes-Benz and the support of the fans is very big in China so we have an attractive race ahead of us in Shanghai next weekend. I am confident that the fans will not leave the race disappointed. We looked quite reasonable in Malaysia at the last race and maybe things will play into our hands again in Shanghai. I am looking forward to the race and fully enjoying the competition again. Admittedly the last two races have not been very fortunate for me but I am very much aware of the reasons for it. I know how things go in F1 and if you look into the detail of the two races, I think everything is still going according to plan. You can only improve step-by-step and I am confident that we are achieving this.”

ROSS BRAWN

“Achieving our first podium of the season with Nico was very rewarding in Malaysia at the home race of our title partner PETRONAS and a timely boost for the team. Michael also had a strong weekend and is getting more up to speed with every race although circumstances beyond his control limited his race performance in Melbourne and Sepang. We hope to continue these signs of improvement in China and it would be particularly good for Michael to be able to have a clean race and show the progress that he has made since the start of the season. On an operational level, the team has performed very well over the three races and did a good job during Nico’s race in Malaysia to record one of the quickest pit stops of the season. Our car has been reliable, with the exception of the wheel nut problem in Malaysia, and I am very pleased with the performance of our drivers. We’ve achieved a reasonable set of results which are in line with the car’s current pace but we have to be realistic and acknowledge that we are not quick enough to compete right at the front at the moment. This is obviously not a situation that we are happy with and we are working as hard as possible to close the gap.”

NORBERT HAUG

“The Chinese Grand Prix has taken place since 2004 and is one of the most recognised events on the Formula One calendar. China is a very important market for Mercedes-Benz as, for example, we sell more S-class cars there than in any other country of the world. The circuit located outside of Shanghai features lots of challenges for the car, drivers and team. There are fast curves as well as tight corners and two hairpins, one close to the start and finish of the lap. For Shanghai, the long-term weather forecast doesn’t predict a probability of rain as was the case for the last race in Malaysia. But one way or the other, we will try to achieve a good result and in addition to improve our technical package step by step for the next races.”