Find the Way

Race 5: Spanyol (22 Mei 2011)

Janji Norbert Haug bahwa Michael Schumacher akan kembali bergembira di Spanyol usai balapan yang tak menyenangkan di Turki, ternyata terbukti. Sepanjang sesi latihan bebas hari Jum’at dan Sabtu sore, catatan waktu Michael amat menjanjikan terlebih di latihan bebas ketiga pada Sabtu pagi, catatan waktu Michael berada di urutan ke-3 sementara Rosberg berada di posisi ke-6.

Saat kualifikasi, di Q3 Michael memilih tak mencatatkan waktu demi menjalankan strateginya menyimpan set ban baru saat balapan. Sementara Rosberg memilih tetap mencatatkan waktu dan berada di P7.

Nyatanya strategi Michael terbukti berhasil. Namun kuncinya ia harus bisa meraih posisi yang lebih baik saat start dan menilik dari sejarah start Michael yang selalu bagus, pebalap Jerman ini pun kembali sukses dalam perebutan posisi saat start. Menjelang akhir race, saat Michael dan rekan setimnya saling berjibaku memperebutkan P6, Michael berhasil memenangkan pertempuran. Strateginya saat kualifikasi terbayarkan. Michael berhasil finish ke enam tepat di depan rekan setimnya, Nico Rosberg.

Free Practice 1:

Schumacher          : 7th (1:27.016)

Rosberg                : 3rd (1:26.379)

Free Practice 2:

Schumacher          : 7th (1:23.981)

Rosberg                : 6th (1:23.586)

Michael Schumacher’s Friday Quotes:

“We have had quite a reasonable Friday and have clearly demonstrated an upwards tendency with our improvements seeming to work well. Saying that, the other teams have improved too, so without having had a chance to look deeper into the data, I would say that we may be fighting for the third row. We will continue to work further on our performance for tomorrow.”

Free Practice 3:

Schumacher          : 3rd (1:23.057)

Rosberg                : 6th (1:23.397)

Qualifying:

Schumacher          : 10th (No time)

Rosberg                : 7th (1:22.599)

Michael Schumacher’s Saturday Quotes:

“Unfortunately in Q3, my KERS system did not work but we reacted in the best possible way. We took the decision to go out on prime tyres to be able to react if other cars did the same. As no-one did, we came in without setting a time so we can now choose our strategy for tomorrow. I will certainly try to have another of the good starts that I have made recently, make up some positions right at the beginning, and take it from there. With DRS and KERS, overtaking is possible even in Barcelona, so it is important to use your tyres well, and I still have a set of fresh tyres left. I will definitely try to make the best out of it.”

Race:

Schumacher          : 6th

Rosberg                : 7th

Michael Schumacher’s Sunday Quotes:

“We managed to make the most out of our possibilities today which is good news, especially for our guys who I am happy for. I had a good start; going right through the middle was tight but fortunately it worked out. Then the race was about holding position from there. We can be happy with the result but other than that, it was just tricky with oversteer, tyre degradation and poor balance todewal with. Still we achieved what we could have, and I look forward to going to Monaco.”