New updates to favour Schumacher again?
The dust has settled on Michael Schumacher’s punishment from Monaco so it’s time to forget about the ‘what if’s’ and focus on what Mercedes have actually achieved in the first six races. It amounts to two podiums, 78 points and a distant-fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
While the ‘Silver Arrows’ were always the fourth-favourites for the year, the fact Red Bull have exactly double their points total will deeply upset Ross Brawn. Were it not for Vitaly Petrov struggling in the second Renault, Mercedes would be sitting in fifth place. So what is going to be different this weekend in Istanbul?
Well, more updates. The team have their own ‘F-duct’ system in place, as well as some more aerodynamic improvements. Brawn admitted in the Mercedes press release that it will be a “long road to achieve the level of competitiveness that we are aiming for”.
By the time they reach that stage, Red Bull will likely have already surpassed it. The time may come soon when Mercedes get rid of the challenge of Renault and are knocking on the door in the battle for second with Ferrari and McLaren but it will take a miracle for them to beat Red Bull for sheer race pace. With them unlikely to finish anywhere other than fourth-place, the spotlight will shine on who will come out on top between their two drivers.
So far, Nico Rosberg has scored over two-thirds of Mercedes’ points, although he has been out-performed by his more experienced team-mate since the European season started in Barcelona. Schumacher has showed his racing instincts – and his ability to bend the rules as far as they will go – have not left him and he has managed to close the performance gap on his younger team-mate, though his penalty in Monte-Carlo has been a slight setback.
Rosberg will be looking to put things back in his favour this weekend, though in Barcelona he did not seem to enjoy the upgraded car as much as the 41-year-old. It will be interesting to see if the new upgrades benefit both drivers, or if they improve Schumacher further while hindering Rosberg. Should the Schumacher come out on top this weekend, expect the seven-time World Champion to erase the gap between him and his 24-year-old team-mate in the next few races.
Turkey offers mixed emotions for both their drivers. This is the only track on this year’s calendar that Schumacher has raced at and not won. His two appearances at Istanbul have resulted in an early retirement and a third-place finish. Don’t back him to better the latter this weekend. Rosberg, meanwhile, has never failed to finish in the points round this track. There is no reason why this run should end, but the updates will have to be pretty special for him to stand on the podium.
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