Mercedes: We’re clearly not as competitive as we want to be

29 July, 2012

Jul.29 (Mercedes Press Release) Nico Rosberg finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in 10th place today, with Michael Schumacher retiring after 58 laps.

• Nico made up three places on his grid position of 13th with an option/prime/prime strategy
• Michael started from the pit lane, picked up a drive-through penalty and was forced to stop again with a puncture
• He followed an option/prime/prime strategy before the team retired his car after 58 laps

Nico Rosberg:
We’ve had a difficult weekend here in Budapest, and just haven’t been quick enough. In the race today, I had a good start and was able to gain three positions by the end, so I got the most out of it. Being happy with one point is not an ideal situation though. We need to find out why we are off the pace at the moment. I hope that we can do better in Spa after the break and we will push hard to make the improvements necessary.

Michael Schumacher:
Today was obviously one of those races that you will not look back at for very long. Our engine temperatures were very high before the start, and when the yellow lights came on, I switched the engine off. After I had started from the pit lane, I picked up a penalty and then a puncture. So all in all, the beginning of the race was not very pleasant for us. Everything you do not need came together. We did not have full telemetry before the start and during the period of overheating, and this is why we finally decided to retire so as not risk any damage which might make us suffer in the next race. Now we can now check the car properly before the break and prior to Spa. This weekend is not one to remember, but then there are weekends like this which you can only accept. I am sure we will be looking much better in the next races to come.

Ross Brawn:
Nico did a good job today, and 10th place is about where the car was, if not a little better. He drove very well to make the tyres last which is a positive sign, and a good strategy saw him pick up places. Michael had a much more eventful race. He started from the pit lane, incurred a penalty and then had a puncture so it wasn’t exactly an ideal start to the afternoon. During that period, we lost all telemetry on his car, and subsequently had various problems during the race which we weren’t entirely sure what they were, therefore we decided to retire the car. We are clearly not as competitive as we want to be and, whilst we got everything out of the car today, we need to find more performance and lap time.

Norbert Haug:
After a problematic qualifying where we did not make it into Q3 for the first time this season, we could not expect a good race result today. After his first stop on lap 15, Nico was already 26 seconds down to the leader, and he lost another 25 seconds during the following 52 laps. About half a second a lap – a gap that we experienced already at the previous races in Silverstone and Hockenheim. So it is very clear that we have a lot of work ahead of us, and I am convinced that we will improve our performance during the remaining nine races. After his start from the pit lane and his drive-through penalty, the team brought Michael in as a precaution with 11 laps to go. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes on their 75th win with a Mercedes engine in the last 15 years.

Subbed by AJN.

Related posts:

1. McLaren: Our car appears to be competitive enough
2. Mercedes:Car balance isn’t great yet around Hungaroring
3. Hungarian Grand Prix: Mercedes preview Hungaroring
4. Mercedes: We need to find more pace from the car
5. Mercedes: A messy race cost us positions at the flag