Indian Grand Prix: Mercedes team preview

Mercedes AMG Petronas team come to India at the back of two very disappointing weekends, in which both of their drivers failed to score any points.

The Mercedes team recorded their last point finish in Singapore where Nico Rosberg finished in fifth place.

During the past two races, Rosberg has been taken out of the race on the first lap while Michael Schumacher has not had the pace to compete at the front.

In the last race in Korea, the Mercedes team were struggling to get the balance right and both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg struggled throughout the weekend to get Mercedes up to its pace.

As far as the Indian Grand Prix is concerned, the Buddh International Circuit should suit the Mercedes although they can struggle through sector 3 of the track as it has one very long and fast sweeping corner in which the Mercedes suffers mid corner understeer.

The Buddh Int. Circuit layout.

Speaking ahead of the Indian Grand Prix Weekend Ross Brawn feels that India and the next few races should suit the Mercedes.

“I think these next few tracks coming up, although we don’t know about Austin, will tend to come a bit towards the nature of our car,” he said.

“There are still some things we want to try with the car in the last four races, particularly for next year.”

Mercedes Team are also not giving up on the development race though they have no chance to close down 119 points gap to lotus F1 Team.

But, they do have to fend off Sauber who are just 20 points behind them.

Here is what Ross Brawn said in an interview about why Mercedes is continuing with the developments for this year’s car :

“We need a balanced approach I think,” he said when asked about how it was splitting efforts between this year and next season.

“Our chassis team are designing next year’s car and there are certain directions they want to confirm. The aero changes you saw on Friday morning in Korea with the rear wing are primarily for next year. So there is a mix.

“We don’t want to sacrifice the remainder of this year while working for next year, but there is a strong aspect of looking to 2013.

“At Suzuka we had two rear different suspension geometries, and we had some other fundamental differences, so we are plugging those things into the programme. But we still want to have a respectable performance for the rest of the year.”

Coming to the drivers both Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher are excited to be racing in India for the second time and both hope for huge fan support and some exciting experiences.

Nico Rosberg (L) and team-mate Michael Schumacher (R).

Here is what they had to say prior to Indian Grand Prix:

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes

“The Formula One debut of India last year was certainly a success. There were a surprising amount of fans during the weekend, and the track itself really is cool. We drivers were given a very enthusiastic reception, and it will be interesting to see if this enthusiasm has remained as strong. After two races which have not been totally satisfying, we naturally wish for a more positive trend to come, and I can say that everybody in the team has put in a lot of effort to achieve it. Let’s see what we can make out of it.”

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

“The Buddh International Circuit is very challenging with an interesting combination of slow speed corners and long fast straights. The track also has one of the highest average speeds in Formula One and is good for overtaking. Last year, I was really impressed by the passion and friendliness of the Indian people so I’m looking forward to visiting again and having some more interesting experiences. I hope that I will have a bit more luck than recently next weekend, and I will have the chance to achieve a good result.”