Mercedes: Schumacher takes blame for collision | 2011 European GP team review

Mercedes: Schumacher takes blame for collision | 2011 European GP team review: "
Michael Schumacher admitted his collision with Vitaly Petrov was his mistake.

	Michael Schumacher	Nico Rosberg
Qualifying position	8	7
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)	1’38.240 (+0.009)	1’38.231
Race position	17	7
Laps	56/57	57/57
Pit stops	3	3

Mercedes drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57
Michael Schumacher	116.29	107.897	107.437	107.134	107.263	106.854	106.514	106.637	106.705	106.989	106.623	106.812	107.299	122.847	147.804	111.647	105.664	105.751	105.605	105.208	105.085	105.082	105.351	105.515	107.044	105.403	105.583	105.194	105.534	106.679	122.008	115.218	105.361	106.252	104.91	105.227	105.164	105.007	105.216	105.388	105.473	105.21	105.463	104.721	104.806	106.285	105.619	105.176	105.606	104.578	105.198	104.84	104.652	104.71	105.363	108.419
Nico Rosberg	114.972	107.305	107.028	106.938	107.136	107.801	106.604	106.249	106.112	106.579	106.477	121.287	111.574	106.712	106.039	106.355	105.448	105.428	105.337	105.736	105.205	104.956	105.066	105.298	106.144	105.577	106.267	105.929	106.645	124.054	110.392	104.184	104.28	105.397	104.647	104.277	104.213	104.836	105.387	103.95	103.862	104.07	104.091	103.963	118.677	111.471	103.897	104.132	104.004	104.168	103.89	104.162	103.649	104.117	104.094	103.89	104.301

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, Valencia, 2011

Michael Schumacher
There was little in it between the two Mercedes in qualifying: Schumacher was less than a hundredth of a second slower than Rosberg.
But his race went wrong after his first pit stop, when he ran into Vitaly Petrov at the second corner.
Schumacher said: “I saw Petrov quite late, even though I was aware that he was coming, and tried to brake as late as possible and go round the corner with him.
“But when I wanted to draw back, I locked the front wheel and slipped into him, which was clearly my mistake.”
The time lost returning to the pits left him 17th at the chequered flag – his worst ever finishing position in an F1 race.
Michael Schumacher 2011 form guide
Nico Rosberg
After a messy weekend in Canada Rosberg had a solid, if quiet run in Valencia.
He squeezed past Jenson Button on the first lap but didn’t see the McLaren driver lunging for the inside at turn two on lap six to claim the position back.
From there on he faced little threat from behind for his seventh place. He dropped behind the two stopping Jaime Alguersuari but passed him back quite easily on lap 39.
The team had been planning to pit him twice, feeling they’d improved the tyre wear on the W02. Rosberg had saved a fresh set of soft tyre during qualifying with this in mind, but with the front-runners making three stops they elected to do the same.
Nico Rosberg 2011 form guide
2011 European Grand Prix

• Mercedes: Schumacher takes blame for collision
• Toro Rosso: Alguersuari bounces back
• Sauber: Perez nearly grabs a point with one-stopper
• Renault: Boullier unhappy with single point
• Force India: Sutil cracks the top ten
• Williams: Alternative strategy doesn't help Maldonado
• Lotus: Gap to midfield widens in Valencia
• Virgin: Glock can't keep Lotuses behind
• HRT: High tyre wear leaves HRT duo last again
• European Grand Prix sets record for most finishers

Browse all 2011 European Grand Prix articles
Image © Daimler

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ME HERO DYD