Sunday, 20 May 2012 10:47

Weather: sunny and dry, 27-31°C air, 39-43°C track
After the third free practice on Saturday morning things didn’t look promising at all with both Sauber F1 Team drivers being unhappy with their cars. Further set-up changes paid off and qualifying went better than expected. Sergio Pérez qualified eighth for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Kamui Kobayashi came 12th.
Sergio Pérez:
Sauber C31-Ferrari (Chassis 03/Ferrari 056)
Qualifying: 8th (1:33.394 min in Q3 / new soft tyres)
3rd Practice: 13th (1.35.067 min / new soft tyres / 17 laps)
“Today was a very good qualifying and another great effort by the team. The result is a lot better than we expected after free practice. We really managed to maximise the car’s potential today. The target now is to gain some positions at the start and then we will see how the race develops. It will be pretty tricky for everybody tomorrow in terms of tyre degradation. Another podium doesn’t look realistic at all; this track isn’t an easy one for us anyway. But we will go for points.”
Kamui Kobayashi:
Sauber C31-Ferrari (Chassis 01/Ferrari 056)
Qualifying: 12th  (1:33.806 min in Q2 / new soft tyres)
3rd Practice: 14th (1.35.128 min / new soft tyres / 14 laps)
“With my last set of fresh tyres it went quite well and I could improve at the beginning of my final lap but then I made a mistake at turn eleven. I lost a couple of tenths there. Overall the car was much better in qualifying than it had been in free practice this morning. Basically we have gone back to yesterday’s set-up and that was the right decision. This circuit here should be fairly good for overtaking. Of course straight line speed is essential for that and I hope we can do well tomorrow.”
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “The result is in the region we expected it to be before we came here. We were aware that it would be difficult to be as good as in China, but everything went okay today. We struggled a bit with the balance in the morning. This track is definitely not easy for us but then qualifying was fine and both drivers did a good job. Technically there were no problems. For the race the trick will be good tyre management without sacrificing too much pace. We are definitely in a position to fight for points.”

Sunday, 20 May 2012 10:47

Nico Rosberg took a commanding victory at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai today. Starting from pole position, he took the chequered flag with a 20s margin over the second placed car, achieving his first win in Formula One.
• Nico ran a two-stop option/prime/prime strategy to win by 20.626 seconds over Jenson Button´s McLaren-Mercedes
• Michael was forced to retire on lap 13 after his right front wheel was not properly attached at his first pit stop
• This was Nico´s 111th Formula One start, and comes 111 years after Mercedes´ first win at the 1901 Nice Speed Weeks
• It’s the first win for a works Silver Arrow since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix, on 11 September in Monza - 25,671 days ago!
• The victory is the tenth in Formula One for a works Silver Arrow, and brings the total number of Mercedes-Benz F1 victories to 90
• Mercedes-Benz powered cars filled the podium for the second time in three years at the Chinese Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg “This is a very special moment for me. The whole weekend went perfectly. My first pole position, now my first win in Formula One - it really is fantastic. But it´s not only this; it´s the first win for the new Silver Arrow and for this great team. That is really special for me. Thanks to everybody in the team, here in China and in our factories in Brackley and Brixworth. It makes me very proud that we have improved the car so quickly. I will never forget this race, and the last 20 laps felt as long as if I was racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours! But then crossing the line was so intense. We will enjoy this success, but our feet are still on the ground. We are still not where we want to be, we are still working hard to understand the car and the tyres in all conditions, and we will keep pushing to improve our race pace even further. We will see how that works out in Bahrain.”
Michael Schumacher “First of all, congratulations to the whole team, to Mercedes-Benz and of course to Nico who achieved a perfect victory from start to finish. He did a great job today and yesterday, and I am happy for him. As for my race, my right front tyre got loose following my first pit stop. As I did not want to cause any bigger damage to the car, I stopped on the grass. I felt there was something wrong immediately and especially in turn three, when I put pressure on the right side of the car. Up until then I had a controlled race I´d say, keeping the others behind me and the tyres together. Of course, this was an unfortunate ending to what could have been a nice race, and I feel sorry for the guys, who always work so hard and give their best. But we all know that´s part of the game.”
Ross Brawn “This is a truly special and historic day. I am so delighted for Nico, he has deserved to take his first victory several times, and has now done so by driving a perfectly judged race from pole position. I am excited to see how he develops now he has that win under his belt. Commiserations to Michael, who was driving a controlled race in second position, but was forced to retire after his pit stop. However, he is the first man to say that we win and lose as a team, and his performances this year prove that he is equally capable of climbing to the top step of the podium. Heartfelt congratulations to all our team here at the track, in Brackley and in Brixworth; they have put tremendous effort into this project, and we are now starting to see the rewards for their dedication and expertise. Finally, I must thank all our colleagues at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart and around the world - their support has been unstinting, and we are proud to deliver the first victory for a works Silver Arrow car in 57 years. I was just one year old when Juan Manuel Fangio won in Monza in 1955 - but this victory is something I will remember, and savour, for a very long time indeed!”
Norbert Haug “What a sensational victory from Nico and our team! It was unbelievable how Nico drove and controlled the race from lap one to 56. A big thank you to everybody in Brackley, Brixworth, Stuttgart, Fellbach, Untertürkheim and Möhringen for all their relentless work and their belief in our capabilities and that we can make it. Nico´s performance was superb today, the team executed a great two-stop strategy, and Nico and his car managed the tyres very well. It was a shame for Michael, who dropped out after his first pit stop because of a problem with the right front wheel; he missed out on a possible very good podium result. It was particularly sweet to see Jenson and Lewis on the podium - Mercedes Power to the power of three!”