No More Sorrow

Race 17 : India (30 Oktober 2011) 

Usai mengalami balapan yang tak mengesankan di sirkuit Yeongam, Korea, Schumi berharap bisa meraih hasil positif di balapan perdana GP India yang kini memiliki sirkuit bernama Buddh International. Schumi menilai karakter sirkuit Buddh International cocok dengan mobilnya karenanya ia menilai seharusnya ia dan timnya bisa meraih hasil yang lebih baik dari sekadar finish di urutan ke-7 dan 8. Meski menurutnya sesi qualifying bisa jadi menyulitkan tapi belakangan ini ia merasa mobilnya jauh lebih tangguh saat balapan. Walau karakter sirkuit di India ini cocok sekali dengan mobilnya, tapi Schumi masih tak berani terlalu muluk mengharapkan kemenangan, karena menurutnya hal itu masih jauh dari jangkauan. Walau begitu ia tak menampik bahwa ia dan timnya tentu saja berharap bisa mencicipi kemenangan dan itulah yang tengah dilakukan oleh timnya saat ini. Fokus dan terus memperbaiki kinerja tim dalam menciptakan masa depan baru di Mercedes sehingga mereka bisa memetik buah kerja keras mereka ini secepatnya. 

“I think it is very important for all of us, that is what we are her for. All of us involved in teams know the taste of winning races and the championship, and that is what we are her for,” tegas Schumi mengenai harapan besar dari dirinya sendiri dan timnya yang ingin kembali merasakan kemenangan tapi sayangnya waktu mereka belum tiba. “We know we are in the situation we face right now-only way is to keep focused. We are building future of Mercedes and we wants to take fruits of that sooner rather than later,” ujar Michael dalam konferensi pers hari Kamis menjelang GP India. 

Penilaian Schumi mengenai qualifying ternyata benar. Catatan waktunya di sesi kualifikasi tak terlalu baik. Catatan waktunya hanya mampu menempatkannya di grid 12, selisih 0.8 detik dari rekan setimnya yang mengisi grid ke-7. Tapi Schumi tak terlalu khawatir dengan hasil yang diraihnya di babak kualifikasi ini. Namun berkat hukuman penalti turun 5 posisi yang diterima Petrov akibat perbuatannya pada Schumi di GP India, maka posisi start Schumi pun naik dari P12 ke urutan 11. 

Hari Minggu, saat balapan, lagi-lagi Schumi menampilkan start yang mengesankan. Di akhir lap pertama ia berhasil melompat ke P8 tepat di belakang rekan setimnya. Performa Schumi sepanjang balapan terus meningkat dan dengan strateginya akhirnya Schumi sukses finish ke-lima tepat di depan rekan setimnya. Hasil ini kembali memperkecil kembali selisih poin mereka menjadi hanya tinggal 5 poin saja. 

Free Practice 1: 

Schumacher : 5th (1:28.531) 

Rosberg : 6th (1:28.542)

Free Practice 2: 

Schumacher : 21st (1:31.804) 

Rosberg : 19th (1:31.098)

Michael Schumacher’s Friday Quote: 

Michael Schumacher (21st, 1:31.804): "This is a very interesting track with a challenging layout, and it's certainly enjoyable to drive. As we expected, off-line it is extremely dusty but the racing line became quite grippy over the day. This morning, I was happy with the balance of the car, however this afternoon was more challenging for us. We weren't really able to get into working properly for various reasons, including the red flag, and therefore tomorrow we need to work on the set-up for both qualifying and the race." 

Free Practice 3 : 

Schumacher : 11th (1:27.217) 

Rosberg : 8th (1:26.873)

Qualifying: 

Schumacher : 12th (1:26.337) 

Rosberg : 7th (1:25.451) 

Michael Schumacher’s Saturday Quote: 

Michael Schumacher (12th, 1:26.337): "Qualifying today was not really very good for us. At first I hit some traffic, and then on my final run in Q2, there was again vibrations on the set of tyres which I used which was not helpful. Saying that, this certainly does not explain the time gap to Nico so we need to understand what the reason was for that and get on top of it. As for the race tomorrow, this should work out better for me, and my aim undoubtedly is to score some points. I'm not really sure which side of the grid will be the better one, so I will just take it from there and try to gain as much as possible." 

Race:

Schumacher : 5th 

Rosberg : 6th

Michael Schumacher’s Sunday Quote:

Michael Schumacher (5th): "I am obviously happy about the race today. We achieved the maximum that we could hope for, and as a team we maximised our potential. Fifth and sixth places are a great result for us. On top of that, my car was very nicely sorted for the race and very stable. At the start, everything worked out according to my strategy as I deliberately didn't want to use KERS in the first two corners and save it for the long straight where I knew that I could make up some positions. In the second stint, I managed to maintain my tyres so I could stay out longer and that was enough for fifth place. What's really important at the moment is that we keep pushing and trying to improve, and that is what we achieved today. To the organisers of the first Indian Grand Prix, I would like to send a big compliment; I'm sure that I am not the only one to say that this was a very positive debut."