2012 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX – RACE

A thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos yesterday saw Michael Schumacher end his Formula One career with a battling seventh place finish, whilst Nico Rosberg came home in 15th position after a dramatic and rain-affected race.

• Both drivers suffered a puncture from debris in the early stages of the race which compromised their afternoons
• Michael stopped four times on laps 5, 8, 17 and 54, with a prime/prime/inter/prime/inter tyre usage
• Nico also came into the pits four times on laps 9, 18, 20 and 50, using option/inter/prime/prime/inter tyres

Michael Schumacher
What an exciting and eventful Grand Prix! Strangely enough, my last ever Formula One race began with a puncture which pushed me down the running order. But it’s always been my philosophy to never give up - there’s always a chance, you just have to keep going and seize it when it comes. It’s a strange sort of coincidence that I’ve ended my Formula One career now in P7, which was my first ever qualifying result at Spa-Francorchamps 308 races ago. It also occurs to me that I was driving with the number seven on my car yesterday and that I have seven world championship trophies in my cabinet. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel on claiming his third world title in a row. I’m very proud of Sebastian and really thrilled for him. As early as the first lap, I suddenly found him blocking the track facing the wrong way, but then the two of us both staged great comebacks in the race. His performance also showed that you just have to keep plugging away. Even under these difficult conditions, my final Formula One race was tremendous fun, and I would once again like to thank the team and all my fans for their support over the past years. I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together very much indeed.

Nico Rosberg
That was definitely the longest race of my life yesterday! The start was pretty good, and I was running in the top eight. After the puncture however, there was damage to the floor and I lost a lot of performance. So unfortunately I had no chance to fight back from there. It must have been a fantastic race for the fans here in Interlagos and watching on the TV and I hope they enjoyed the show. Congratulations to Sebastian on the world title which is very well deserved. For myself, I am now looking forward to next year and the chance to attack again. Many thanks to the team for all of their efforts this year which saw our first win together, and we can look forward to making further progress and a better 2013.

 

Ross Brawn 
We saw a very dramatic race yesterday and a fitting finale to a great season for Formula One. From our perspective, the two punctures early on put us in a difficult position with both cars. Nico’s car suffered a lot of damage and that made his race very difficult. Michael’s puncture wasn’t as severe and the team did a good job to recover, with some help from the safety car. Michael showed all of the skills that we know he has yesterday to salvage his race; considered overtaking, good decisions on tyre strategy, and he kept the car on the road to bring us home some points. It was a nice way to finish the season and his career with us. In terms of results, his second spell in Formula One hasn’t been as special but it has been so for all of us who have had the privilege of working with him. It has been a real honour for all of the boys and girls at our team, and working alongside Michael gives you a real understanding of why he is so special and has achieved seven world championships. He will be missed and we all wish him the very best for the future. Congratulations to Sebastian on achieving his third world title yesterday, a very impressive achievement.

Norbert Haug
What an incredibly dramatic way to round off a long championship season! Michael and Nico had to make unplanned stops for punctures caused by debris on the track, losing a lot of time in the process. Both cars sustained damage to their underbody as a result, which affected down force and pushed up lap times, with Nico’s car suffering more than Michael’s. In his final race, Michael mastered the difficult, damp conditions on the track in impressive style, battling his way through to seventh place. It was great to see Michael overcoming all these problems to finish among the points in his last ever Formula One race. We thank Michael not only for his tremendous dedication and his racing achievements for our team, but also for those great personal qualities that he manifested at all times. The three seasons he spent with us will always serve as a model of team play at its best. Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing on wrapping up the world championship hat-trick. To become world champion three years in succession is a remarkable feat that has been achieved by only two previous drivers - Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

United States Grand Prix - Race 2012

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished the United States Grand Prix in 13th and 16th places respectively yesterday.

• Nico followed a one-stop prime/option strategy in the race yesterday, stopping on lap 34
• Michael’s race was converted from one to two stops when it became clear his first set of tyres were struggling
• He stopped twice on laps 14 and 39, with a option/prime/prime strategy

Nico Rosberg

It was a difficult weekend for us and unfortunately we weren’t able to score any points yesterday. However we have learned some important lessons for next year and that’s what counts at the moment. I hope we can be more successful next year here in Austin as I have enjoyed our visit. The track, the people and the city are absolutely fantastic. So I look forward to coming back here in 2013 and we will work hard next weekend to finish the season on a positive note. 

Michael Schumacher

I can’t find any words other than ironic ones for the race yesterday - there was a lot of action around me but unfortunately in the wrong direction. To say that the race was a real struggle would be an understatement. I couldn’t get any grip from my first set of tyres, and there must have been some kind of damage for them to perform so badly. We had to change our strategy to two stops which then compromised our race even further. All in all, it was much worse than expected yesterday, especially considering that things did not look that bad yesterday and Friday.

Ross Brawn

After a good qualifying result, Michael’s first set of tyres performed very badly yesterday and we decided to convert his strategy to a two-stop race. Once we got onto another set, the lap times came back up to what we expected but having such a poor first stint made it very difficult for him. Nico started a long way back and conserved his tyres well as we knew that we wanted to make a one-stop strategy work. He actually had a pretty good race with respectable lap times, and if we had managed to qualify better, he would have been in a reasonable place. Whilst it is disappointing not to score any points, we have learnt a lot about the car and tyres this weekend which will be useful for the future. Despite our result, this has been a great weekend for Formula One in the United States, and it was very pleasing to see so many fans here for the first race in Austin. Our thanks for the organisers for putting on such a good show.

Norbert Haug

Nico’s speed was not too bad but from 17th on the grid, he could not improve further. His one-stop strategy worked as planned which was not the case for Michael who, after a respectable place on the grid, did not have the speed in his car to defend his position after the start of the race. The team brought him in early and switched to a two-stop strategy. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for winning the inaugural Grand Prix here at this great race track, after having won the last United States Grand Prix in 2007. Thank you to the organizers for making this race happen here in Austin. We will come back stronger next year. Congratulations to Red Bull Racing for securing the Constructors’ World Championship yesterday.

ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX – RACE 2012

A dramatic Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit this evening saw Michael Schumacher finish just outside the points in 11th place whilst Nico Rosberg retired following a collision.

•  An incident on lap one which damaged his front wing caused Nico to box for a new nose dropping him to P21
• He subsequently retired on lap eight after a heavy collision with the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan
• Michael was going well on a one-stop prime/option strategy and was running in eighth place by lap 41
• He picked up a puncture from debris and had to make an additional stop which dropped him out of the points

Michael Schumacher

Unfortunately we have to say that again we suffered bad luck today. Due to the puncture I had to do another pit stop very late in the race which lost me a points scoring position. Of course this is part of the game and you cannot do anything about it but it was a real pity as we had reasonable pace and could have taken some points. Towards the end of the race I was hoping to close the gap to the top ten, and we were making good progress, but it just didn’t work out.

Nico Rosberg

My car felt competitive today so it’s a real shame not to have finished the race and scored some points. Unfortunately that chance was gone after the first lap incident with Romain, after which I had to come into the pits for a new nose. Then there was the accident which put me out of the race. Narain told me that his steering broke and he needed to brake which I didn’t expect in that high-speed corner. There was no time for me to react, and I’m very thankful that we are both fine. I went to the medical centre for a precautionary check but everything is good. I will look forward now and hope for a better two races to end the season.

Ross Brawn

We had a reasonable car today so it’s disappointing not to have picked up any points. Nico’s front wing was damaged on the first lap which meant an early stop but he was going well after that. His accident on lap seven was fairly dramatic and we obviously need to have a look at what happened. Karthikeyan reported a problem with his car and certainly it looked very unusual. Thankfully both drivers were fine afterwards. Michael drove a strong race and we had a good strategy but unfortunately he picked up a puncture in the debris left from the various accidents which made the end of his race very difficult. The dice just aren’t falling for us at the moment but the positive is that the car was better this weekend so we just need to keep working hard.

Norbert Haug

Nico´s race lasted only seven laps today, and thankfully his accident ended without any serious consequences. Before that, his front wing change on the first lap after a collision with another car put him back to the back of the field. Michael was in seventh position when he picked up debris, and subsequently a puncture, during the safety car period which dropped him back to 11th place after his additional pit stop which is where he finished.

SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX – RACE 2012

Nico Rosberg finished the Singapore Grand Prix in fifth place this evening, making up five places on his starting position, whilst team-mate Michael Schumacher retired from the race on lap 38.

• Nico followed a two-stop option/prime/prime strategy, stopping on laps 12 and 33
• Michael was following the same strategy until his retirement, and pitted on laps 11 and 33
• Michael retired from the race following a collision with Jean-Eric Vergne at turn 14 on lap 38

Nico Rosberg

Everything worked out well for me this evening for the first time in what feels like a long time! Finishing in fifth place having started in 10th is a pretty decent result and I’m happy to have picked up some good points for myself and the team. It’s also nice to have stayed ahead of the two Lotus cars which I didn’t expect before the race. Saving a fresh set of tyres in qualifying yesterday proved to be the right strategy as I had a good start and a strong first stint. Thanks to the team for that and for making the right calls in the race today. Now I’m looking forward to Japan and the opportunity to improve our new package further.

Michael Schumacher

It was obviously a very unfortunate ending to my race this evening when I ran into the car of Vergne who accepted my apology straight afterwards. I am not totally sure why it happened like this; I was braking but the deceleration was not as strong as it usually would be, and I could not avoid running into the car in front of me. We have to find out what has happened. Up until then, I think it would have been possible to get some points this evening.

Ross Brawn

That was a tough race and I am pleased that the team did a pretty good job this evening. Nico had a great race and our strategy worked well for him to gain five places on his starting position. There was evidently some damage to his car following contact on the first lap as the downforce levels looked lower than expected so it was an even better drive from him in the circumstances. Michael’s race was also going well until the incident which caused his retirement. It was an unusual set of circumstances so we will have a careful look at the data and work out what could have happened. Thank you to the team for all of their hard work in very challenging conditions over this weekend. With the updates that we brought to this race, the car has improved, however we are not quite where we want to be yet.

Norbert Haug

That was an exceptionally challenging race this evening. With regard to Nico, he and our team made the best of it. P5 is a respectable result, especially in view of the fact that Nico started five places further back on the grid. He crossed the finishing line ahead of a Red Bull, a Ferrari and both Lotus cars, all teams which are ahead of us in the championship. This was made possible by having a sound strategy and by the first of the two safety car deployments when the team took the correct decision. Michael had the opportunity to claim the position behind Nico, but his accident put paid to that. The team is investigating to see whether there was a problem with his car.

Italian Grand Prix - 2012

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg finished in sixth and seventh places today in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

• Michael completed a two-stop strategy, running option/prime/prime, and stopping on laps 15 and 37
• Nico also stopped twice today, running option/prime/prime, and stopping on laps 14 and 38
• Fastest lap for Nico, on the final lap, was the fourth of his career and second of the season
• Sixth win in 13 races for Mercedes-Benz power, and third in a row, with four engines in the top ten

Michael Schumacher

It was a fun race today - although I must admit that, following our performance on Friday, I had secretly hoped we would be able to move up the field. But we had a tricky first stint. After that, everything went really well, we were on the pace and I think we showed a clear upwards trend today. I kind of ran out of laps this afternoon and, if the race had been a bit longer, I´d have been able to battle even further forward. Overall, though, we got everything out of it today. Now we need to keep this trend going - and everybody in the team is working hard on it.

Nico Rosberg

Seventh place is an improvement on my recent finishes so I’m satisfied with that today, although there may have been potential for more. I had no grip on my option tires in the first stint, which were the same set that gave me problems in Q3. After the first stop, I had very good pace and was able to set a few fastest race laps and move up the field with some nice overtakes. It’s nice to have had a better finish to a race weekend and I’m looking forward to more of the same in Singapore in a couple of weeks.

Ross Brawn

Both our drivers put in strong, aggressive and controlled performances today. We knew that a one-stop strategy was not feasible for us this afternoon, so we went into the race planning to make two stops and knew the drivers would have to race hard to make it work against other cars who were one-stopping. The disappointment today was that both drivers really struggled on their first set of tires - perhaps because of how we used them in qualifying, running more than one timed lap in Q3, or perhaps another factor, which is something we will have to analyze. We lost all our time in this phase of the race but, thereafter, the performance of both cars looked good. Nico´s fastest lap shows that our level of performance today was reasonable and both he and Michael were consistently among the fastest in the second half of the race. Sixth and seventh places are far from perfect but we can be positive about an exciting race, running the right strategy for our current situation and two great drives from Michael and Nico.

Norbert Haug

Fighting drives from Michael and Nico this afternoon with lots of nice overtaking moves. We didn´t have great pace in the opening stint, running the option tires we had used in qualifying like everybody in the top ten, but it looked much better after the first stops. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes on three wins in a row - two for Lewis, one for Jenson Button. Our Mercedes engine has taken six wins from 13 races this season, including one for our Silver Arrows team in China. After scoring the most points of any engine in 2009, 2010 and 2011, this confirms the Mercedes V8 as the most successful power plant so far in 2012 as well.

Celebrate with a star this festive season

The need for speed has always held a mystic lure.  This is why Formula One, the pinnacle of automotive sport, has many fans in India. Mercedes-Benz, India’s premiere automotive brand truly understands this. This festive season, we bring our fans the perfect festive gift. A unique opportunity to meet Formula One living legend Michael Schumacher and the chance to experience the thrill of the race at the Indian Grand Prix.

This initiative is part of the Mercedes-Benz collaboration with the 2012 Airtel Indian Grand Prix and the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team. Patrons who purchase any Mercedes-Benz model between the 1^st of September and October 16^th 2012 could win a chance to meet Michael Schumacher in person. What’s more, every person who takes a test drive during this period stands to win a grand stand couple ticket   to the 2012 Airtel Indian Grand Prix.

Entering the competition is simple. Step into any one of the thirty-one Mercedes-Benz showrooms to sign up for a test drive. If you are a formula one enthusiast and want to carry home your own piece of the Formula One action, indulge in some official merchandise of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team. For more details and to participate walk into a Mercedes-Benz showroom today.

Mercedes-Benz Magazine

Mercedes Benz owners and enthusiasts have a rich taste in different colours of life and have an enduring quest for excellence and perfection.

This is exactly what the Mercedes Benz Magazine is all about. Mercedes Benz is the first to start its own premium lifestyle magazine which caters to the tastes of such people. This magazine has a colourful history and has featured noted celebrities around the world. The core philosophy of luxury has driven the magazine since its inception in 1954. Mercedes Benz has now unveiled the ‘Second Anniversary’ edition of this exclusive lifestyle magazine in India. 

Edited by renowned author Chetan Bhagat, the Second Anniversary Edition contains an exclusive interview with the living legend, seven time world champion Michael Schumacher and his team mate Nico Rosberg of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team. Also featured in this edition are ‘Candid Confessions’ with Bollywood style icon and celebrity Malaika Arora Khan. The Magazine caters to a wide array of audience with sumptuous dose of lifestyle elements comprising the best from the world of design, art, culture, fashion, cinema, sports, racing, music, glitz and glamour, technology, travel, food and architectural innovation. Emotionally appealing photos, high quality design and typography with a light touch goes with the high standards Mercedes Benz sets with their cars. 

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kumble, Vidya Balan, are amongst some of the famous Indian personalities featured in the magazine. The magazine boasts of selected international content which gives the global imagery and quality while the Indian content adds the local feel and correlation.

Mercedes Benz cares for the environment and takes necessary steps towards a greener future. The Mercedes Benz Magazine is made of non wood paper and will be reaching out to more than 50,000 people. It is already available at leading premium book stores and will be priced at a premium of Rs 200. As a technologically oriented company, the Magazine will be available for the first time in Ipad format.

What are you waiting for? Grab your copy now.