Practice One: Nico quickest, Champ in the walls at Canadian GP 2011

Nico Rosberg put his Merc GP's straight-line speed to good use, taking the P1 slot in Practice One while Seb Vettel put his RB7 into the Wall of Champs

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso set the early pace in Montreal on Friday morning, mixing it up with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

Felipe Massa also joined the tussle, while late-starter Vettel only ventured out after half the session was already over.

And, unfortunately for the Red Bull driver, what time he had left was cut short when he locked up into the final corner and slammed his RB7 into the Wall of Champions.

With the session back underway after six minutes, it was Alonso and the two McLaren drivers fighting for the P1 slot before Merc GP's Rosberg put in a late charge to beat them all.

Rosberg finished up with a 1:15.591, 0.548s up on Alonso while Schumacher was third fastest.

Report: Blue skies and sunshine greeted the drivers at the start of Friday morning's practice for the Canadian GP with the track temperature already up to 27'C as Heikki Kovalainen led out the drivers for their installation laps. Problems for Jarno Trulli with as the Team Lotus driver hit a bird on his installation lap. Not a pretty sight on his front wing.

Toro Rosso tester Daniel Ricciardo got proceedings underway with a 1:26.560. His reign was short-lived as Fernando Alonso took the P1 slot with a 1:19.981 and Michael Schumacher slotted into second place. Schumacher went on to overhaul Alonso with a 1:18.821 while Lewis Hamilton claimed third place.

The McLaren driver continued lapping, taking first place by almost half a second ahead of Schumacher. Jaime Alguersuari put his Toro Rosso into third place with Nico Hulkenberg taking fourth ahead of Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg.

Alonso returned to the front with a 1:18.326 before being dropped by Rosberg and also by Webber, who was 0.029s off the P1 time. Hamilton improved to fourth. It was all-change, though, as Felipe Massa hit the front, the first driver into the 1:17s.

Sebastian Vettel finally hit the track for his first timed lap, taking 17th place. The reigning Champ continued lapping, improving to 10th place. Alguersuari was the latest to be caught out at Turn 8, however, it was Vettel who was well and truly caught out.

Out on the soft tyres, the reigning World Champ locked up his right front under braking for the chicane and hit, yip, the Wall of Champions! Vettel escaped unhurt from the accident but the same cannot be said of his car. His RB7 suffered serious damage to the front right.

The session was red flagged for six minutes with the drivers quickly out on track. Massa almost followed Vettel into a wall, although a different wall, the one just after the Turn 3/4 chicane. Paul di Resta almost binned it as well, forcing Trulli to take evasive action. Nick Heidfeld spun his Renault, although that's better than his team-mate Vitaly Petrov who had not even set a time with 20 minutes remaining.

Alonso took over at the front with two purple sector times. Hamilton ran off the track and Button climbed to third place behind the two Ferraris. Rosberg overhauled the Ferraris, a 1:16.002 for the Merc GP driver. Schumacher took third place, 0.983s behind his team-mate. Rosberg, meanwhile, reported to his team that he could feel something burning in the cockpit. That's never good.

Practice One ended with Rosberg in the P1 slot with a 1:15.591. Alonso and Schumacher were second and third ahead of Massa and the two McLarens.

Times
01. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m15.591s 32 laps
02. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m16.139s + 0.548 27 laps
03. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m16.549s + 0.958 30 laps
04. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m16.658s + 1.067 26 laps
05. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m16.676s + 1.085 20 laps
06. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m16.842s + 1.251 19 laps
07. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m16.990s + 1.399 28 laps
08. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m17.294s + 1.703 26 laps
09. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m17.445s + 1.854 28 laps
10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m17.549s + 1.958 20 laps
11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.662s + 2.071 27 laps
12. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m17.820s + 2.229 30 laps
13. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m18.458s + 2.867 31 laps
14. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m18.506s + 2.915 15 laps
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m18.648s + 3.057 35 laps
16. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m18.852s + 3.261 8 laps
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m18.932s + 3.341 20 laps
18. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m19.274s + 3.683 29 laps
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m19.422s + 3.831 30 laps
20. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m19.577s + 3.986 26 laps
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.838s + 4.247 31 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m19.960s + 4.369 23 laps
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m20.520s + 4.929 21 laps
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m20.839s + 5.248 27 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Rosberg: It's amazing to see where we are

Nico Rosberg: I'm very happy with our performance in qualifying. After a difficult start to the season, we are getting closer to the front and I'm pleased that we are making a small step forward each weekend

Nico Rosberg was 'very happy' after qualifying third today for the F1 2011 Turkish Grand Prix.

Rosberg, who finished Friday practice in second and who was fourth in FP3 this morning, maintained that form this afternoon and on his second run in the top-ten shoot-out he just edged out McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to finish the day 'best of the rest', behind the ever-dominant Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Rosberg is now upbeat about his chances in tomorrow's 58-lap grand prix and after a rather difficult start to the season for the Brackley-based team, he will be looking to maximise on his best Q performance since the 2010 Malaysian GP.

“I'm very happy with our performance in qualifying and it's amazing to see where we are right now,” Rosberg reflected. “After a difficult start to the season, we are getting closer to the front and I'm pleased that we are making a small step forward each weekend.

“Thank you to the team for a great job so far. We saved one set of new soft tyres for the race, which will be important in terms of strategy. I'm really looking forward to the race.”

Mercedes boss Norbert Haug meanwhile was very impressed with Rosberg's performance and once again the 25-year-old outshone his illustrious team-mate, Michael Schumacher, who was just over a second slower. Schumacher will start eighth in the sister MGP W02.

“It was a great lap from Nico and everybody in the team has done a very good job to improve the car consistently over the last two Grand's Prix,” Haug remarked.

“Third place behind Sebastian and Mark is a good result for us and our guys have worked extremely hard.

“Michael did not get the perfect lap in Q3, after being second fastest during the morning session, but with a good start from his place on the fourth row, he can improve in the race.”

Source: Crash.net

Rosberg 'optimistic' after 'decent' start

Nico Rosberg demonstrated that Mercedes GP's Chinese pace was not a one-off as he fought for the P1 slot in Friday's Turkish practice

Having qualified fourth last time out in China, Rosberg even led the grand prix for several laps before a fuel consumption issue dropped him down to fifth place.

And although Mercedes GP were encouraged by their pace in Shanghai, there were still a few questions about whether it was genuine.

The team insisted it was and Rosberg proved just that on Friday in Turkey when he finished with the second fastest time of the day, just 0.065s behind McLaren's Jenson Button.

"We have made a decent start to the weekend and I am optimistic for tomorrow. We had a productive afternoon and tried a lot of things with the car," said Rosberg.

"I didn't have too many problems with the tyres on the long run and I was quite surprised by the grip levels, which were higher than I expected. The wet tyres had a lot of grip this morning too.

"I'm happy with what we learned and expecting a very interesting time tomorrow and on Sunday."

Meanwhile, Schumacher finished the day in fourth place, 0.607s off the pace after putting in no fewer than three spins at Turn 11.

"We had quite a positive Friday, and it was especially good that we were able to test both wet and dry tyres. I hadn't really driven the wets so I'm pleased that I finally had some opportunity to use them.

"Also, my sessions were quite eventful with three spins in Turn 11.

"All in all, our car confirmed the performance improvement from China, so we can look forward to the rest of the weekend. We still have some questions relating to the set-up but I am confident we will sort them out tomorrow."

Team boss Ross Brawn has happy with the day's proceedings, saying: "We had a reasonably good day and it was nice to get a lot of work done.

"We had a good opportunity this morning to see what the car was like in the wet conditions. It was also the first time that Michael had really driven the car in the wet, so that's useful as the conditions this weekend could still be mixed.

"Then we had a nice dry session this afternoon and completed a lot of work on low and high fuel. The balance of the car isn't there yet and there is a lot of work ahead, but the team and drivers have worked very well today."

Source: Planet-F1

Barcelona: Rosberg's turn to shine

With the rain abating on Sunday afternoon, Nico Rosberg put in the fastest lap time seen at Barcelona this week

It was a gloomy start to Day Three at the Circuit de Catalunya with rain falling as the drivers ventured out.

The wet track gave the drivers valuable time on the Pirelli wet and intermediate tyres, however, it also claimed a few cars.

Pastor Maldonado was the first off in the wet, spinning his Williams FW33 into the gravel at Turn Five, while an hour later his fellow rookie Sergio Perez crashed his Sauber C30 at Turn Four.

But it wasn't just the rookies who were having a tough time of things as Felipe Massa brought out the red flags twice in less than half an hour. The Ferrari driver spun his F150th Italia at Turn Four and again at Turn Seven.

Massa and Toro Rosso test driver Daniel Ricciardo were the early pace-setters in the wet while Lewis Hamilton took over as the track began to dry out, leading the way at the lunchbreak.

But, by the close of play with the track completely dry, it was Rosberg who stormed to the front of the pack with his 1:23.168, which was 0.147s quicker than the week's previous best, which had been set by Sebastian Vettel on Friday.

The Mercedes GP driver's best was on a short qualifying style run while he had been down in the 1:29s when putting his car through a 15-lap stint.

Renault's Vitaly Petrov took second, 0.295 seconds slower than Rosberg, while Hamilton finished up in third, 0.690s off the pace.

Hamilton's day, though, was not without problems as reliability gremlins during the morning session repeatedly resulted in him having to return to the pits after just one or two laps.

Maldonado was next in line, ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber. The latter was the final driver to bring out the red flags when he stopped out on track at Turn One in the final minute of the day's play. Webber was 1.827s off the pace.

Despite a water leak problem, Jarno Trulli put his Lotus T128 up into sixth place, finishing ahead of Perez and Force India's Adrian Sutil.

Sebastien Buemi, who only ran in the afternoon after replacing Toro Rosso test driver Ricciardo, and Massa completed the top ten.

Times
01. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.168 92 laps
02. Vitaly Petrov Lotus Renault 1:23.463 + 0.295 93 laps
03. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:23.858 + 0.690 93 laps
04. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:24.815 + 1.647 60 laps
05. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:24.995 + 1.827 139 laps
06. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 1:25.454 + 2.286 48 laps
07. Sergio Perez Sauber 1:25.557 + 2.389 115 laps
08. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:25.720 + 2.552 102 laps
09. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:26.155 + 2.987 31 laps
10. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:26.508 + 3.340 123 laps
11. Timo Glock Virgin 1:26.598 + 3.430 97 laps
12. Giorgio Mondini Hispania 1:28.178 + 5.010 39 laps
13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:28.329 + 5.161 42 laps
14. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania 1:30.722 + 7.554 32 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Rosberg: Strange that Alonso named Schumi

Nico Rosberg insists he's unfazed that Fernando Alonso singled out his team-mate and not him to be a huge threat in 2011

Alonso was recently asked for his thoughts on who his main rivals for this year's World title may be and surprised many by naming seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher.

"The most dangerous Champion for me is always Michael," said the Ferrari driver. "Now in January if I have to choose one name I have to say Michael.

"He is seven-time Champion, he has nothing to prove. He had a difficult season but he is still a Champion. He is still super class and if the car is right he will be a contender."

And while there is no doubting Schumacher's pedigree, there are some doubts about whether he still has what it takes.

The German, who returned to F1 last season with Mercedes GP, finished ninth in 2010, 70 points behind Rosberg and 184 adrift of World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

Asked whether he was "annoyed" that Alonso had chosen Schumacher over him as a potential threat, Rosberg told Auto Moto und Sport: "No, that doesn't interest me.

"But I found it a bit strange. Why not say Red Bull will be his nearest rival? That would be obvious."

Meanwhile, Rosberg has confirmed that he'll have the honour of debuting Merc GP's new W02 when it hits the track at Valencia on February 1st.

"I am going first," the 25-year-old told the DPA agency. "It will be interesting to see how it (the car) feels. You know pretty quickly how good it is going to be."

However, the German has downplayed his chances of winning the World title, although insists it will happen one day.

"It is probably unrealistic to go into the season saying we will win the Championship, but we will succeed sooner or later. We are on the right track."

Source: Planet-F1

Nico Rosberg at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

Nico Rosberg during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2011 in Berlin

...

Rosberg to drive new Mercedes on first test day

Nico Rosberg is scheduled to give Mercedes’ new 2011 car, the W02, its debut outing on the first day of the Valencia test next month.

"I am going first," said the 25-year-old German, who last year scored 70 points more than his famous teammate Michael Schumacher.

Speaking at the Fashion Week in Berlin, Rosberg added that the pre-season test schedule has been devised to be "fair" to both him and Schumacher, even though getting the first run is "something special".

"It will be interesting to see how it (the W02) feels," the German is quoted by DPA agency.

"You know pretty quickly how good it is going to be," added Rosberg.

Schumacher, 42, will drive on day two.

Rosberg continued: "It is probably unrealistic to go into the season saying we will win the championship, but we will succeed sooner or later. We are on the right track."

In Mercedes GP’s first season after the re-branding of 2009 champions Brawn GP, the Brackley based team finished fourth overall.

Source: Motorsport.com

Showdown in Lapland - Nico vs. Keke in a Family Duel

Source: nicorosbergtv

Rosberg: I hoped for more in 2010

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg has admitted that he expected more as he joined the reigning World Champion team this season. Having achieved two podium finishes in four years at Williams, the German son of 1982 World Champion Keke has achieved three rostrum results this year but lies only seventh in the Drivers’ Championship.

Whereas the team formerly owned by Honda enjoyed double title-winning success under its Brawn GP guise in 2009, 2010 has proven to be a difficult campaign for the silver arrows, which look set to repeat Ferrari’s feat of 12 months ago by finishing fourth overall as outgoing Champions.

“I’m very happy about the comparative results with my team-mate but I admit that I did hope for more,” Rosberg told Autosprint magazine, with fellow German and 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher the equivalent of more than two race wins and one third place behind in the points table.

“When I signed the contract, I thought my team-mate was going to be Button and that was fine; then I heard that Jenson would be leaving and so I just hoped a quick and experienced driver would join me.”

Nico went on to confess that he was initially unsure over Schumacher’s link-up with a former managerial colleague of Benetton and Ferrari.

“I didn't know Michael in person but I knew about his long friendship with (Team Principal) Ross Brawn, so of course I didn't know if that was going to effect my situation,” he said, “but, in reality, it’s all been for the best.”

With Pirelli tyres possibly signalling a clean sheet for the entire field in 2011, Rosberg now hopes to significantly reduce the margin next season. “I want to fight for the title,” he began to sum up. “At the end of the day, the objective for any racing driver is to win the Formula 1 World Championship and I'm no exception.”

Source: GP Update

Schumacher hints at car discrepancy

Michael Schumacher has hinted that his car has not always been on the same performance level as team-mate Nico Rosberg's Mercedes this season.

The seven-time world champion has endured a torrid season on his return to Formula One racing and has been consistently out-qualified and out-raced by the younger Rosberg.

And although Schumacher managed one of his better outings of the season with a sixth place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix, he indicated that there have been more problems with his car than with Rosberg's.

"The car worked great this time," Schumacher told German television channel RTL. "Unfortunately, I cannot say it has been that way at all the races.

"There have often been problems, especially on my car, in terms of the consistency, that were not always noticed from the outside. You only saw that I was slower. Both cars have not always been the same."

Mercedes' Norbert Haug did not disagree with Schumacher's claims.

"I cannot disagree with Michael. As far as the car is concerned, he is right," Haug told Bild newspaper.

Source: ESPNF1

Rosberg tired but happy after first triathlon

Nico Rosberg was exhausted but happy after contesting his first full triathlon.

The Mercedes driver, now a triathlon aficionado like Jenson Button, completed the full Olympic distance of the world championship round in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Button recently completed the comparable London triathlon in 2hr14mins, and 25-year-old Rosberg finished the swimming, cycling and running event in Austria in 2hr7mins, according to multiple German media reports.

DPA news agency said he was nearly disqualified at one point for a helmet violation during the 40km cycling stage.

"I've never done it (a triathlon) before," the German, who in Hungary had refused to disclose the name of the triathlon event to F1 reporters before departing for F1's August break, said.

"It was a great event -- very hard, but I had a lot of fun. In the last five kilometres, I had no energy left. How people can do it is amazing.

"This is a new passion for me," Rosberg added at Kitzbuhel.

After the cycling stint, 1.5km swimming leg and 10 kilometre run, he placed 44th overall, and 13th in the up-to-29 age category.

Meanwhile, next Thursday and Friday, Rosberg will be testing world championship karts with a clutch of fellow F1 drivers.

Also to feature names including Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Jaime Alguersuari, the test will take place at the Lonato circuit near Brescia in northern Italy.

Source: Motorsport

Rosberg 'completely happy' with Merc

Nico Rosberg is "completely happy" with Mercedes GP, according to a spokesman from the Silver Arrows.

Earlier this week, Rosberg reportedly delivered a damning assessment of the team's 2010 challenger, labelling the car "a disaster."

He also spoke to the the Cologne Express of his disappointment of moving from "Williams to Mercedes because I thought I'd have a car capable of winning" only to find himself behind both Williams cars, "who were nowhere weeks ago", in last weekend's Valencia GP.

However, a Mercedes spokesman has now told ESPNF1 that the 25-year-old's quotes were taken out of context, adding that the German is "completely happy with the Silver Arrows team."

Source: Planet F1

Rosberg: This is a disaster

It is going from bad to worse for Mercedes GP as Nico Rosberg has labelled the team's 2010 car a "disaster."

Switching from Williams to Mercedes GP at the end of last season, many expected Rosberg to be up there fighting for pole positions and even his first race victory.

But it was not to be.

Although he achieved two podium results in Malaysia and China, the German's results have subsequently slumped, although by no means as badly as his team-mate Michael Schumacher's.

With just 25 points in the last five grands prix, Rosberg has fallen to seventh in the Drivers' standings and there is little sign that things are coming right as the team suffered their race the last time out in Europe.

And Mercedes GP's fall from the top - the team having won the World titles under the Brawn GP banner in 2009 - has left Rosberg rather frustrated with his W01.

"This is a disaster," he told the Cologne Express.

"The problem with the tyres is well known within the team. For weeks, we have said we would move forward but nothing happened - in fact it we're going backwards."

Adding insult to injury, Rosberg also found himself trailing his former team Williams in the Europe GP.

"If you start in twelfth behind both Williams, who were nowhere weeks ago, what can you expect from there? I went from Williams to Mercedes because I thought I'd have a car capable of winning."

Meanwhile, team boss Ross Brawn admitted that time is running out for the team to salvage this year's Championship.

"We have not done our job well enough," admitted Brawn.

"First we have to bring our new aero package up to scratch. Depending on how the results look, we will then decide if we will focus early on next season."

Source: Planet F1

The Secret Life of... Nico Rosberg

He races for Mercedes GP, his best finish was second at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, he’s scored 149.5 points from 78 starts and he’s the 24 year-old son of a former world champion. These are just a few things we do know about Nico Rosberg. A driver, however, is more than his statistics, his team or even his famous father. We delve a little deeper to find out about Rosberg’s fear of heights, his love of backgammon and cycling, and his youthful obsession with The Lion King…

Q: Are you the kind of guy to have a ‘Plan-B’?
Nico Rosberg: Yes, sure. I’m very flexible so having a ‘Plan-B’ is the natural thing. If ‘Plan-A’ doesn’t work I don’t waste my time and move on to something else. (FIA president) Jean Todt once said that you have to be ahead of the problem and not behind it. I couldn’t agree more!

Q: Apart from driving a Formula One car, what is your favourite buzz?
NR: Playing soccer. And lately I’m into cycling. As for lazier things, it’s playing backgammon. I am a huge back backgammon fan - it’s our traditional family game.

Q: Who do you most look forward to seeing when you arrive in the paddock on a Thursday?
NR: I guess my engineers. We get along really well and it is always interesting to start the weekend together.

Q: Who is your dream date?
NR: My girlfriend would sound a bit boring, wouldn’t it? Someone I would like to meet is Lance Armstrong because I am into cycling myself at the moment. I would like to hear from him how to best enhance your performance.

Q: Which film last made you cry?
NR: It was The Lion King. I must have been seven years-old. A film that I’ve really enjoyed was Catch Me If You Can with Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s such a racy title! And Inside Man. Clive Owen is one of my favourite actors.

Q: What are you afraid of?
NR: Heights, and my nightmare would be to fall.

Q: What was the last book you read?
NR: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer about his 1996 ascent of Mount Everest that ended in catastrophe, with eight climbers killed. I read a lot and biographies are amongst my favourites.

Q: What is your favourite way to relax?
NR: Reading, doing sports, and chilling out with friends.

Q: Name five things that you hate?
NR: Being late - and I have the problem that I’m always late. I hate it. It has something to do with discipline. I’m working on it. What else? Arrogance, crookedness, crime.

Q: Have you ever dyed your hair?
NR: I’ve never done that, but maybe one day. Who knows…

Q: What was the first CD that you bought?
NR: Either Michael Jackson’s Thriller or probably Elton John’s Lion King soundtrack? I think it was The Lion King CD. I’d been whingeing after I saw the film until my mum took pity on me and bought it.

Q: Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
NR: No. And I don’t plan to.

Q: What did your teachers say about you in your school report?
NR: Competent, but impatient. Some sort of Fidgety Philip.

Q: Who were your childhood heroes?
NR: Mika Hakkinen. Mika was a real hero of mine.

Q: Do you have any guilty pleasures?
NR: That I’m sometimes a smart alec.

Q: Do you collect anything?
NR: No.

Q: What do you miss most about home when you’re travelling?
NR: The privacy, my family, my friends and a sort of mundane daily routine.

Q: What was your worst buy?
NR: I’ve never had one.

Q: How do you take your coffee?
NR: I don’t drink coffee. The only caffeine I have is in the gel that I use for cycling.

Q: Your ideal non-race Sunday morning?
NR: Get up very early, go cycling for three hours and then have brunch at the beach with family and friends.

Q: What was your first car?
NR: That was quite something. It was an Audi RS6. My dad gave it to me because safety was very important to him and he didn’t want to see me in one of these micro cars.


Q: What’s the most embarrassing mistake you’ve ever made?
NR: Ha, this morning it popped up in my mind again. I cannot tell because it is so embarrassing!

Q: What is the best thing that you can cook?
NR: Fried eggs on toast.

Q: When was the last time you were really angry?
NR: I don’t tend to get really furious. I’m a very balanced person. If it happens then it always has something to do with the family, but then it is over in the next minute.

Source: Formula1.com

Nico Rosberg visits Germany National Football Team (photos)

On Tuesday, June 1, Nico Rosberg visited the German national football team who are preparing for the 2010 FIFA World Cup at their training camp in Eppan, South Tyrol.

A keen football player and supporter, Nico met the team’s manager Joachim Löw and had a kick-about on the training pitch with captain Philipp Lahm, Lukas Podolski and Peer Mertesacker. He also met Wolfgang Hochfellner, the man who drives the team around in their Mercedes-Benz coach. The side panels of the team bus advertise the German team’s 4. Stern für Deutschland (Fourth Star for Germany) campaign.

The partnership between the DFB (German Football Association) and Mercedes-Benz began in 1972 and the World Cup campaign organised by Mercedes-Benz offers all fans of the national team two ways of showing their support: firstly by wearing the official badge and secondly by registering on the campaign website at www.der-vierte-stern-fuer-deutschland.de

Click here to view more

Source: Mercedes Benz

Rosberg apologises to Schu after block

Michael Schumacher accepted an apology from his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in the hours after qualifying at Monaco.

After the seven time world champion told reporters he had been blocked in Q3 by the younger German, Rosberg later said: "I apologised because I realised that it wasn't ideal."

The Brackley based team also took a portion of the blame, admitting that the radio and GPS systems have not been working well in the Principality.

Boss Ross Brawn conceded that Schumacher, who has been outqualified by Rosberg at every grand prix venue this year except Barcelona a week ago, was initially "annoyed" about the incident.

"But when I explained to him what happened he was ok, just frustrated," said the Briton.

And he said it was a mistake to have the two W01 cars circulating nose-to-tail, following a problem getting "Nico's car out of the garage".

"We cocked up," admitted Brawn.

Source: F1 Complete

Drivers take part in charity football match in Monaco

8 drivers from the pinnacle of motor racing have taken part in the event at Louis II

As usual in the few days prior to the Monaco GP, last Tuesday a few F1 drivers played a charity football match promoted annualy by Prince Albert at Louis II stadium.

Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Jarno Trulli, Nico Rosberg, Lucas di Grassi, Jaime Alguersuari and Vitaly Petrov were on the 'Nationale Piloti' team, who played the 'Friends of the Prince' team.

All money gathered with the match will be donated to the World Association of Children's Friends (AMADE), a Monaco-based charity which helps children all over the world.

In spite of the relaxed moods, the drivers demonstrated a lot of enthusiasm in the match. One of the drivers who played harder was Alonso. The match ended 4-2 in favour of the F1 drivers.

Source: Tazio
Translation from Portuguese: Fran

Brawn: Rosberg will soon win in F1

Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn says he feels it won't be long before Nico Rosberg is able to take to the top of the F1 podium.

Rosberg has secured top three finishes so far this season to sit second in the championship standings after four races, ten points behind defending champion Jenson Button ahead of next weekends Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

That race will see Mercedes introduce a series of improvements to the W01 and while he admitted that he was disappointed that Rosberg hadn't been able to win in China, Brawn said that he felt the German would soon be on top of the podium.

"We've not had a fantastic start but we are still in there because no-one else is really dominating either," told Reuters. "There is still plenty of opportunity.

"I was frustrated at the in China because Nico could have won that race. He made one mistake in very difficult circumstances.

"He's very close to winning a race, just needs things to fall into place...but that will come.”

Source: Crash

International press blasts 'snail Schumi' after China

The reaction prior to Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix was already not positive, so Michael Schumacher is advised to avoid the media in the wake of the Shanghai race.

After finishing a minute behind Nico Rosberg at the chequered flag, and seven tenths off his teammate's pace in qualifying, the specialist Auto Motor und Sport said China was probably "the worst weekend in the record winner's whole career".

The German magazine gave 41-year-old Schumacher just 3 out of 10 for his performance at the wheel of the grey Mercedes.

One of his former Ferrari teammates, who did not want to be named, told the Independent: "After the beating he got on Sunday, in conditions in which the old Michael Schumacher excelled, I don't think he'll ever come back to his old level."

The Cologne publication Express published a photo-shopped image of a snail with the seven time world champion's head and cap, while France's Auto Hebdo observed that in China "the former rain king seemed lost".

Bild newspaper's headline read: "Rain God? Schumi got flooded!", while Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport asked of Schumacher's return: "Why did he do it?"

The sports newspaper Tuttosport said Schumacher "is only a shadow of himself", while another sports daily Corriere dello Sport called him "an old lion attacked by a group of young and hungry animals".

The broadsheet La Stampa said: "F1 without overtaking? Just ask Schumacher, who was passed constantly", while the major La Repubblica said the German "is no longer in the league of the best Formula One drivers".

Hamburg's Abendblatt called Schumacher a "learner driver", while the Frankfurter Rundschau blasted his "horrible performance" and Austria's Kleine Zeitung said he had been "humiliated" in China.

Britain's The Guardian recalled the moment in the post-race press conference when Lewis Hamilton was asked how it had felt to race wheel-to-wheel with his childhood hero.

Jenson Button leaned over and demanded Hamilton "tell the truth" before the pair both laughed, and the Guardian said the exchange "may have been the unkindest cut of all" for Schumacher.

"The way things look, it would be no surprise to see him bowing out with as much dignity as he can salvage before the Formula One season is very much older," added the newspaper.

Source: Motorsport

FIA post-race press conference - China

1st Jenson Button (McLaren), 1h46m42.163s; 2nd Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1h46m43.693s; 3rd Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 1h46m51.647s.

Q: Jenson, what a race. Another great call for tyres at the start, a safety car re-start for you to control and then some heart-stopping moments in the final laps.
Jenson Button: I mean the safety car for clearing debris off the circuit was just... I had my heart in my mouth when that happened as I just did not know what was going to happen. We had built up such a good gap and then, unfortunately, everyone else caught up, so it made it very tricky. At the end of the race when we put the inters on, the new set, I felt really good. The car felt great and I wasn’t pushing the tyres too much. I could see I was pulling a gap to Lewis and then it started racing again. I made a mistake at the hairpin and ran wide and from then on I just could not get any heat in the tyres and every bit of water I touched I aquaplaned, so I really had to back off. This victory is very special and really means a lot. It was a tricky race out there and again we called it right and it means a lot. It is not just about being quick, it is about reading the conditions and obviously coming across the line just one second in front of Lewis I think shows what a team effort this has been and what a great result for the whole team.

Q: Lewis, the first time you and Jenson have been on the podium in F1, standing together. But quite a battle you had to get there though.
Lewis Hamilton: I had quite an eventful race. First of all congratulations to Jenson he did an incredible job today and yes, made the better choice on the tyres. But it was very tough. Obviously at the beginning with the weather it wasn’t easy making the call or when to change the tyres. I chose very, very late, when I was half-way round the last corner and clearly it wasn’t the right choice. I fought my way through, we both did a tremendous job and it is really down to an awesome job the team are doing. We have been working very hard, so it is great for the team.

Q: The stewards are still looking into the pit lane incident with Sebastian Vettel. Any worries on that one?
LH: Not really aware of. Not really sure what they are talking about.

Q: When yourself and Sebastian came out of the pits together. It got very close after the pit stop and the stewards are having a look.
LH: Are they.

Q: Everything okay as far as you are concerned?
LH: As far as I am concerned I think it was okay. I think the team waited for quite some time and they released me when they thought it was the right time but I got quite a lot of wheel spin, so I struggled to get out the actual box. As I came out I noticed Sebastian was there and he was pushing me a little bit to the right. We touched wheels but otherwise I think it was fair.

Q: Nico, for you the second time in a row you have been third on the podium. Like Jenson the right call on tyres at the start of the race.
Nico Rosberg: It was a good call and I took the advice from my team and my engineer and eventually just decided, okay, let’s give it a go and stay out. It turned out to be really good. Out there you are saying ‘please stop raining, please stop raining’ and it is just so on the edge. If it rains a little bit more it is the wrong call. If it rains a little bit less it is fine and that went really well. It was nice to be leading the race for a long time from there. But I think I got a little bit more tyre deg than Jenson and as soon as it started raining a bit more again I struggled a little bit more and made a mistake, so he came by. But, in general, obviously I am really happy with this result. It is a good step again in the right direction.

Q: And comfortably ahead again of your team-mate. Life at Mercedes has been very good for you so far.
NR: At the moment I am feeling really comfortable in the team and I am really thankful also. They have helped me integrate really well, so it is all coming together for me nicely. We have had a good step forward again this weekend. We had some upgrades for this track, very small actually, so we have a lot more to come, so it is quite promising for us.

Q: Jenson, the World Champion leads the World Championship table after the first four races. Take us through some of the highs and maybe some of the lows of your time at McLaren so far.
JB: I think you can pick the highs and the lows out pretty easily. I have had two wins and a seventh and eighth, so you know. The tricky conditions helped me but as I say again it is not luck we came out on top today. We chose correctly in the conditions. The start of the race, as Nico said, was you know... It was the right call definitely but it was very, very slippery out there. But we knew how quickly the soft tyres were going to destroy themselves, the inters. So the right call and later in the race the right call as well. My first few months with the team have been extraordinary you could say and I really feel a part of this team now. It is a nice position to be in after four races, leading the championship. Three weeks break now. I am going to enjoy that very much and I am looking forward to Barcelona.

Q: I hope you call all get home okay.
JB: It is alright. I am going on holiday.

(...)

Full Press Conference: HERE

Source:Formula1.com