2011 end of term report – Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher was more impressive this season and silenced his critics with some good performances in 2011. The seven-time World Champion was more comfortable and was closer to his teammate Nico Rosberg.

Season review

Despite a tough and disappointing 2010 season, Michael Schumacher stayed with Mercedes GP for another campaign. The winter testing went well and hopes were high on the eve of the season. However, the results didn’t match the expectations.

In Australia, Schumacher qualified just outside of the top ten. He was touched by Jaime Alguersuari in the opening lap of the race and had to pit for fresh tyres. He rejoined at the back of the field but eventually retired on lap 21 with suspension damage.
He scored points in Malaysia and China. At Istanbul, he qualified eighth but collided with Petrov in the race. He had to pit for a new front wing and crossed the finish line in 12th place.
He had a strong weekend at Barcelona and finished 6th. At Monaco, he out-qualified Rosberg for the first time of the season. However, he had a bad start and was down in 10th place at Turn 1. He made a brilliant move on Lewis Hamilton at Loews. His race ended on lap 33 with engine problems.

At the next race, in Canada, the Mercedes driver showed glimpses of speed. He made the most of the wet track and was up to 2nd place after the second restart. On the drying track, however, he couldn’t maintain the same pace and lost positions to Jenson Button and Mark Webber in the final laps. He still finished in a strong 4th place – which was Mercedes best result of the season.

At Valencia, the German had another coming together with Vitaly Petrov. They collided and Schumacher had to pit for a new front wing. He crossed the line way down the order. He had another collision in Great-Britain, this time with Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber. He was given a stop-and-go penalty for causing the collision. He raced strongly and scored two points.

He was once again in the points in Germany, despite a spin on lap 23. Gearbox problems forced him to retire from the Hungarian Grand Prix. In Belgium, Schumacher celebrated his 20th anniversary but had a disastrous qualifying session. He lost a wheel, which forced him to start from the back of the field… for the very first time of his long career. Determined to get a good result, Schumacher made a great start and was 5th under the chequered flag.

He took another top-five finish in Italy, after a tough fight with Lewis Hamilton. His fierce defense was criticized as many observers thought he went a bit too far at times. He suffered two consecutive retirements at Singapore and Yeongam.

He scored more points in Japan, India and Abu Dhabi. The Mercedes driver briefly led the Japanese Grand Prix and wrote another piece of history. In fact, he became the oldest driver to have ever led a Grand Prix. He finished the season on a disappointing note, with a 15th place.

Conclusion

Michael Schumacher’s second season with Mercedes was much better than the previous one. He raced strongly but still showed some weakness in qualifiying. Fortunately, he was more than often able to make up for it with quick starts. Indeed, he gained no less than 27 places in the opening laps of the races in the course of the season.
He is still to get back on the podium but came really close to it in Canada.
He finished the year in 8th place in the championship, 13 points adrift of Rosberg. It was a massive improvement compared to 2010 – Rosberg had scored 70 more points than his experienced teammate.

Highs
—  Improving
—  Excellent races in Belgium, Italy and Canada
—  Stunning opening lap at Spa

Lows
—  Out qualified by Nico Rosberg
—  Several collisions
—  Still no podium

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 13/20
— D.Thys : 14/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 14/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 13/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 14/20
—  Total : 68/100