Nico Rosberg took a commanding victory at an
action packed Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai yesterday. Starting from pole
position, he took the chequered flag with a comfortable 20 second margin over
his closest rival, achieving his first win in Formula One.
Nico ran a two-stop option/prime/prime strategy
to win by 20.626 seconds over Jenson Button´s McLaren-Mercedes. Teammate
Michael was forced to retire on lap 13 after his right front wheel was not
properly attached at his first pit stop. This was Nico´s 111th Formula One
start, and comes 111 years after Mercedes´ first win at the 1901 Nice Speed
Weeks.
What makes this particular win special is that
it’s the first win for a works Silver Arrow since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix,
on 11 September in Monza - 25,671 days ago! The victory is the tenth in Formula
One for a works Silver Arrow, and brings the total number of Mercedes-Benz F1
victories to 90. Mercedes-Benz powered cars filled the podium for the second
time in three years at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg
“This
is a very special moment for me. The whole weekend went perfectly. My first
pole position, now my first win in Formula One - it really is fantastic. But
it´s not only this; it´s the first win for the new Silver Arrow and for this
great team. That is really special for me. Thanks to everybody in the team,
here in China and in our factories in Brackley and Brixworth. It makes me very
proud that we have improved the car so quickly. I will never forget this race,
and the last 20 laps felt as long as if I was racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours!
But then crossing the line was so intense. We will enjoy this success, but our
feet are still on the ground. We are still not where we want to be, we are
still working hard to understand the car and the tyres in all conditions, and
we will keep pushing to improve our race pace even further. We will see how
that works out in Bahrain.”
“First
of all, congratulations to the whole team, to Mercedes-Benz and of course to
Nico who achieved a perfect victory from start to finish. He did a great job
today and yesterday, and I am happy for him. As for my race, my right front
tyre got loose following my first pit stop. As I did not want to cause any
bigger damage to the car, I stopped on the grass. I felt there was something
wrong immediately and especially in turn three, when I put pressure on the
right side of the car. Up until then I had a controlled race I´d say, keeping
the others behind me and the tyres together. Of course, this was an unfortunate
ending to what could have been a nice race, and I feel sorry for the guys, who
always work so hard and give their best. But we all know that´s part of the
game.”
Ross Brawn
“This
is a truly special and historic day. I am so delighted for Nico, he has
deserved to take his first victory several times, and has now done so by
driving a perfectly judged race from pole position. I am excited to see how he
develops now he has that win under his belt. Commiserations to Michael, who was
driving a controlled race in second position, but was forced to retire after
his pit stop. However, he is the first man to say that we win and lose as a
team, and his performances this year prove that he is equally capable of
climbing to the top step of the podium.
Heartfelt congratulations to all our
team here at the track, in Brackley and in Brixworth; they have put tremendous
effort into this project, and we are now starting to see the rewards for their
dedication and expertise. Finally, I must thank all our colleagues at
Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart and around the world - their support has been
unstinting, and we are proud to deliver the first victory for a works Silver
Arrow car in 57 years. I was just one year old when Juan Manuel Fangio won in
Monza in 1955 - but this victory is something I will remember, and savour, for
a very long time indeed!”
Norbert Haug
“What
a sensational victory from Nico and our team! It was unbelievable how Nico
drove and controlled the race from lap one to 56. A big thank you to everybody
in Brackley, Brixworth, Stuttgart, Fellbach, Untertürkheim and Möhringen for
all their relentless work and their belief in our capabilities and that we can
make it. Nico´s performance was superb today, the team executed a great
two-stop strategy, and Nico and his car managed the tyres very well. It was a
shame for Michael, who dropped out after his first pit stop because of a
problem with the right front wheel; he missed out on a possible very good podium
result. It was particularly sweet to see Jenson and Lewis on the podium -
Mercedes Power to the power of three!”
No comments:
Post a Comment