Ain't No Sunshine

Race 10: Jerman (24 Juli 2011)

Balapan di kandang Mercedes sekaligus juga merupakan tanah airnya duo pebalap Mercedes, Schumi dan Rosberg ternyata tak berjalan sesuai harapan. Di kualifikasi hari sabtu, balance mobil Michael tak terlalu bagus. Sebelumnya pada Sabtu pagi saat sesi latihan bebas, ia juga didera masalah KERS yang dinilainya merupakan alasan mengapa gap waktu antara dirinya dengan Rosberg cukup besar. Meski begitu, memulai balapan dari P10 bukanlah hasil yang buruk, bila startnya berjalan mulus, bukan tak mungkin ia bisa meraih finish yang cukup bagus. Kuncinya adalah start yang bagus dan menjalani balapan sebaik mungkin.

Saat lomba, hujan ringan sempat turun sehingga kondisi trek sedikit basah, dan yang memalukan adalah Schumi sang Rain Master sempat sedikit tergelincir di area yang memang cukup licin dan terkenal cukup tricky. Menurut Michael, hujan memang seharusnya bisa membantunya dalam meraih posisi yang lebih baik, tapi sayangnya hujan yang turun terlalu ringan, meski begitu Michael tetap mengaku puas dengan hasil finish ke-8 yang diraihnya hari itu. Untuk race selanjutnya yang akan berlangsung di Hungaria, Michael berharap bisa meraih hasil yang lebih baik lagi terlebih dengan sedikit pengembangan yang dilakukan timnya dalam menghadapi balapan selanjutnya.

Free Practice 1:

Schumacher          : 10th (1:33.863)

Rosberg                 : 7th   (1:33.787)

Free Practice 2:

Schumacher          : 5th (1:32.411)

Rosberg                : 6th (1:32.557)

Michael Schumacher’s Friday Quotes: German GP)

"I'm quite happy with the work that we achieved today and we are going in a good direction. We are continually developing our car and days like today help that process. It's difficult to see the real picture for the weekend however; we don't know what fuel loads the other cars were running and we need to have a close look at our data. It was a really nice feeling to drive the corner which bears my name here in a Formula One car; I certainly wouldn't have imagined that at the time that we inaugurated the corner." 

Free Practice 3:

Schumacher          : 9th (1:32.523)

Rosberg                : 6th (1:31.694)

Qualifying:

Schumacher          : 10th (1:32.482)

Rosberg                : 6th   (1:31.263)

Michael Schumacher Saturday Quotes: (German GP)

"We did not perform to expectations this afternoon and already this morning, the car was not the one I had in my hands up to the first run in P3. It felt like I was just sliding around out there and the balance wasn't great. We had a KERS problem this morning, which we thought explained the big gap to Nico, however in qualifying I was still nearly a second away and couldn't have matched his time, so we have to analyse deeply what could be the reason for it. Obviously then, I tried to push even harder to compensate which lead to a mistake in the last chicane on my last lap, probably costing me P8. We now have to see how we can improve for tomorrow, and I will certainly try to have a good start and a race as good as possible." 

Race:

Schumacher          : 8th

Rosberg                : 7th

Michael Schumacher’s Sunday Quotes: (German GP)

"It was a pretty exciting race today with lots of action for both the spectators and the drivers. Hopefully everyone in the grandstands was entertained and it made up for the cold temperatures a little. My spin caught me by complete surprise, but that spot is known to be tricky in wet conditions, even if the conditions were not so wet today. Anyway, it obviously cost me some positions which was a shame. Towards the end, rain could have helped but the chances were low so I did not count on it. All in all, I am ok with the race. With the little improvements we have made, we can look forward to Hungary now."