Rosberg expects a level playing field at Mercedes

[Roger the knife]

As usual, you can make data fit what ever theory you like. I remember the old saying that the best drivers win the race at the slowest speed possible.

[WhiteBlue]

But my main point was that Berger was never in the very top flight (never won the title for example) but had more fastest laps than Senna. A man who was never troubled by Berger when they were racing for the same team. So it's not just ability that counts.

I don't know what your point is. My point was ability to drive fast and correlation to race winning. While races may be influenced by team order the fastest lap statistic isn't distorted by team orders. So we can be sure of the ability of those featuring on that list.
Senna wasn't a super hero who did everything better than any other driver. The most simple explanation is that he did not need to run the races at full speed and wasn't particularly gifted to do so.

But we can't be sure that they are necessarily better than those not on the list. Berger was not better than Senna. Full stop.

I'm afraid the fastest lap statistik doesn't agree with your opinion at least for that particular skill set or discipline. The fact is Berger had 21 fastest laps and Senna 19. In my book 21 is better than 19. So Berger was better than Senna with regard to fastest laps. Full stop.

[Roger the knife]

Wait a minute, Berger did 210 GP's, Senna only 161 GP's so if you look at the average between Berger and Senna, Senna was better.

I still believe that ultimate pace is shown in qualifying, the fastest is first, once your racing it's being at the front that counts, not being fastest....

[Just_a_fan]

Wait a minute, Berger did 210 GP's, Senna only 161 GP's so if you look at the average between Berger and Senna, Senna was better.

I still believe that ultimate pace is shown in qualifying, the fastest is first, once your racing it's being at the front that counts, not being fastest....

Indeed so.

[djones]

A news article on Autosport quotes MSC saying he feels rusty on the one lap quick runs.

If thats the case then I expect to see this .4 second gap stay about the same through to quali, but in the race I think MSC will be in front of him come the end due to better management of the tyres and ultra consistancy.

[Giblet]

A news article on Autosport quotes MSC saying he feels rusty on the one lap quick runs.

If thats the case then I expect to see this .4 second gap stay about the same through to quali, but in the race I think MSC will be in front of him come the end due to better management of the tyres and ultra consistancy.

Maybe Schumi has been too Ferrari-ized for too many years. Too much muscle memory from former red cars.

I was surprised, and happy to see him get pipped. He is just human after all. Having a different engineer is also a big change, as they often fill in the gaps that the driver miss. They say the engineer engineers the car and driver.

[PlatinumZealot]

Rosberg's gonna out qualify him tomorrow. For sure.

[ArchAngel]

It's probably Rosberg's best chance of the season to do just that. Certainly at least 'til Merc cures the balance problems and inherent understeer-iness of the car, and Schumacher finishes a couple'a races to completely shake off the rustiness and get attuned to the W01.

[ringo]

Having been a F-1 fanatic for the past 30 years, Shumi brings back a certain excitment for me. Though I have never been a true Shumi fan, I can appreciate greatness when I see it and Rosberg is going to have his hands full. Already in the testing it is obvious. Heck shumi was making excuses for rosberg.

really now?

Rosberg 1 Shumacher 0

shumacher is improving now, and is closed down from 5 tenths to 1 or 2, so maybe 3 more races he will pressure Rosberg.
But still a humbling experience for him and his fans. Time is his stumbling block. Just needs a little elbow grease and he will be back.

[ArchAngel]

I guess it's a bit too much to expect a 41-year old to jump back in an F1 car after a 3-year hiatus and be immediately back to 10/10ths as if he'd never left. On top of the long layoff, Schumacher's come back to a completely different team -- despite Ross Brawn, the team is probably still more Honda-like than Ferrari-like in the way they work. The cars (and tyres) have changed considerably, and he's had very limited testing time to get back up to speed.

With the W01's handling characteristics inherently favoring Rosberg's driving style, a major update that brings the car back to neutral behaviour (yet still responsive to setup changes that suits either driver) will probably have to wait until the Spanish GP at the earliest. This makes it even more urgent for Schumacher to get to grips with the car (either by finding the setup that works best for him, or failing that, completely adapting to it and driving around its deficiencies). He needs to "meld minds" with Shovlin so that they can clearly understand & communicate exactly what they need from each other in order to extract the most out of the car.

Given the complete absence of in-season testing, Schumacher will have to shake off the remaining rust & cobwebs and work on it all in the next few races. I certainly hope he'll already be an even match for Rosberg by China, if not earlier. Also keeping my fingers crossed that the W01 will already be much closer to the F10 and RB6 by then.

[kilcoo316]

Bahrain is probably Rosberg's favourite, and best, track.

Schumacher is coming back in from 3 years out.


I expect the gap to close, and be non existent by mid-season.

[djones]

There will be no gap from the next race onwards, you mark my words.

MS had the fastest race lap of the two and once he started getting into his stride had the .4 gap per lap down to more like .1/.2

MS has never driven on the Bahrain track neither. I think??

[marcush.]

the car is not very suited to his driving style ,that is what he said in RTL ,he admitted to need a bit more time to rethink his approach with handling the car .A car you cannot lean on when you need is very difficult to get a time from ,as you need to relax and be patient where you normally found your time...But apart from that I´m pretty sure he will close the gap to Rosberg with race 2 in terms of speed ,
and race 3 in terms of calling off the speed for a one lap flyer.
so I do not expect him to beat Nico in the second race in qualy.

[RacingManiac]

Technically no one has driven on this Bahrain track, of course the old track, Schumacher has won on before.

Part of the problem probably might just have to do with the fact that even though this is a new car, it is still a development from BGP001, a car that was developed from years of input from Button(when it was a Honda before that). Who prefers this type of handling and all the previous years' data and input and experience was based on that foundation....I am sure that'll be difficult to shake off on your first car for the team.....I think in terms of basic design of the vehicle, Schumacher's input won't really be fully integrated until 2011's car....

[Giblet]

Funny thing, is this is a new car for Nico as well, and all of his experience is in a Williams, not a car as arguably quick as the Ferrari's.

Other than rustiness, he has no excuse really. If Nico was an incumbent driver, that would be a fair argument.

Nico is a very talented, and very smart and educated driver. There is no reason to think he might be as good as MS, at this point in his career as MS was at his early stages.