Schumacher loses two accolades to fellow Germans!

Date: 1st September 2010 at 3:00 pm | Filed under: Formula 1 News,Mercedes-Benz GP | Author: Glen Robertson | Tags: Mercedes GP, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Ross Brawn | image © Action Images

All things considered it was a pretty good weekend for the Mercedes GP team. Both cars finished in the points, a risky tyre-strategy paid off, Nico Rosberg showed his dominance over his team-mate with a late opportunistic overtake and Michael Schumacher is not the most hated German in the paddock anymore.

Thanks to Sebastian Vettel’s inability to overtake Schumacher was able to keep out of the headlines and enjoy himself as he carved through the field early on. He stayed out of trouble for the entire race and only being passed by Rosberg in the closing stages put a downer on his race.

As for the youngster, he moved past 100 points for the season – more than double Schumacher’s tally – two points behind Robert Kubica. It is hard to see Rosberg passing the Pole in the Championship, which will disappoint the Brackley-based team.

In the Constructors’ Championship Mercedes hold a 23-point advantage on the French manufacturer. Staying ahead of them will be the goal to the end of the season but they would sacrifice that in a second for race victories in the 2011 campaign.

This team created the superb Brawn 001 car. They have the engineers in Brackley and Brixton to build a championship contending car for next year. What they also have is a superb team to make the right tactical calls in tough situations.

This was showed at the weekend once more. The team decided to keep the pair out on their original set of tyres until the rain came near the end, in the process getting a ‘free’ pit-stop as other teams had to pit too. It was a risky strategy that could have ended any hope of points but it paid off.

Ross Brawn said: “It is interesting when you are in our position you can be more adventurous in the decisions you make in difficult races because you have got little to lose and it can sometimes work out.”

The cars both had a wet set-up which enabled Rosberg’s two-place jump after the safety car period at the end leaving the cars in 6^th and 7^th – a superb achievement from 14^th and 21^st on the grid.

But this was in exceptional circumstances. Don’t expect them to charge through the field like this in every race left. The weather is rarely as unpredictable as it is in Spa and relying on Vettel for moments of madness to get rid of half the field remains their best hope at gaining top-six finishes.