By Michael Oellers

It was already noticeable at the qualifying that MercedesGP was asleep at the switch, because for the first time both pilots missed the entrance in the Top-10. During the race the performances didn’t quiet change for the better: Michael Schumacher could keep scoring some positions at the starting, Nico Rosberg got stuck in the traffic. When the safety car came out, caused by a serious accident of Mark Webber, Schumacher, which drove with hard tires, could have had the possibility to move forward but Mercedes and Schumacher decided in favor of a pit stop under SC, based on wrong GPS data, so that in the end the seven-time world champion finished the race only on 16th position.

Also Rosberg couldn’t benefit from the SC and finished the race on 11th position. Because of several five-second penalties that were noted after the race concerning fast driving under SC, both pilots subsequently scored a position whereby at least Rosberg and the team could gain one point for the world championship. Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull won the race invulnerably over the both McLaren pilots Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Team leader Ross Brawn as well as Norbert Haug were disappointed about the performance of the team in Valencia: “Today’s race was a disappointing outcome to our weekend in Valencia. The car was reasonable today but again we suffered from our qualifying performance which is an issue that we need to get on top of quickly. Nico got caught up at the start therefore we made an early pit stop which was unfortunately compromised when the safety car came out and we lost any benefit. From there, Nicos’ race was about consolidating his position as we had some concerns over brake wear which he did an excellent job to manage”, Brawn explained about Rosbergs’ race.

 “With Michael, we were looking to benefit strongly from the safety car”, Brawn continued.  “As the leaders had not been picked up, Michael was waved through and that gave us a golden opportunity to make his pit stop as our predictions were that the option tyre would hold up for the remainder of the race. However, when Michael came to exit the pits, the red light was showing which cost him a significant amount of time. In our view, the regulations are clear that the exit light should not go red until the line of cars has formed behind the safety car, and we would like the FIA to look into this. There was no line formed and over 18 seconds between Hamilton and Kobayashi when Michael came in. It was a good effort from Michael to try and recover from there but ultimately a very frustrating afternoon.”

Also Norbert Haug criticized the indistinct rules: “Michael could have finished quite high today if the red light at the pit exit had not been switched on. This happened contrary to our understanding of the rules which say the pit exit remains open until a line has formed behind the safety car. That clearly was not the case as there was a gap of over 18 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton whilst Michael was in the pits. He would have fitted in this gap if the red light had not have made this impossible. So Michael´s race was ruined even though he posted quick lap times throughout the afternoon. Despite three pit stops and a long wait at the pit exit, he finished 6.5 seconds outside of the points. Nico had to look after his brakes throughout and was therefore handicapped. It’s been a weekend to forget for our team but we will be stronger soon.”

The next Grand Prix will take place in two weeks at Silverstone. For Mercedes, Nick and Nico Rosberg will participate in the Goodwood Festival of Speed the following weekend.