Rosberg and Schumacher in Barcelona last weekend. Photo courtesy of Mercedes GP
The short turn around between the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend and this weekend's Monaco race doesn't give Mercedes GP Petronas drivers, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, much chance to reflect on the highs and lows from Spain.
For Nico Rosberg, the Spanish GP was one to forget as he found himself catapulted out of point scoring opportunities for the fist time this year. Monaco is a home race for the German who'll be looking to reverse last week's hiccup. His early races have caught the attention of many due to his ability to plonk the under performing Mercedes car high on the points table and out perform the sport's most successful driver, Michael Schumacher. But Monaco is a tough place to reverse disappointing form and things will really have to click this weekend given the presence of McLaren, Renault, Ferrari and of course the confident Red Bull Racing team.
"The Monaco Grand Prix is my home race and it's always an enjoyable weekend. Formula One brings a real atmosphere to my home town and it's very special to have all of my family and friends there to support me over the weekend." said Rosberg. "Living so close to the track is helpful too! After a rewarding first four races, Barcelona was disappointing, so we will hope to see an improvement for Monaco and we will work hard to understand our issues from last weekend. Monaco is a completely different circuit with its own unique challenges and characteristics so it will be interesting to see how the car goes there. I had a good race last year, qualifying and finishing in sixth place, so it would be nice to go a few places better this time."
It will be crucial for Mercedes to place their cars as high in the order as possible during qualifying if they're to have a chance of scoring decent points, something Schumacher finally achieved last weekend. His revitalized performance on Sunday has encouraged the seven-time World Champion considerably and he brings renewed confidence into this weekend's event. "I have always liked to drive in Monaco and that's why I am really looking forward to competing there this weekend. " said Schumacher. "The Monaco Grand Prix certainly adds something very special to the Formula One calendar and driving through the streets of Monte Carlo is undoubtedly unique.
We go there and hope that the characteristics of the street circuit suit our car better than in Spain last weekend. On the other hand, we should be careful to expect too much this time as we have seen in Barcelona that there is still a lot of work ahead of us. So, other than having achieved my best result so far this season, I have taken with me a lot of motivation to work even harder with our engineers to improve the car further."
Last week BBC commentator Jonathan Legard reported that Schumacher had an extra spring in his step ahead of the Barcelona race. According to Legard, that usually means Schumacher has something up his sleeve, and sure enough he did. It'll be interesting to see if Schumacher carries the same spring in his step in Monaco on Thursday where the first free practice gets underway.
Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry seems to think so, and told Autosport yesterday that Schumacher had recaptured his "sparkle". www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83514. He also admitted however, that the Red Bull team has at least half a second on them and that therefore there was a lot of work to do if Mercedes hope to catch them.
(The Mercedes GP Petronas team's ability to improve has a lot to do with the "brains trust" of team principal Ross Brawn, left, and CEO Nick Fry, right. Fry admitted early this week that they were half a second off the pace of Red Bull Racing. Photo courtesy of Mercedes GP Petronas)
Fortunately the slower Monaco circuit is a bit of leveler in terms of advantage, since the outright pace of the front runners and more powerful cars is negated a little by the twisty circuit. Monaco has a propensity for throwing in far more variables than a standard sweeping track. Overtaking is very difficult, back markers are hard to dodge and the slightest loss of concentration could spell disaster, since the street circuit's barriers are notoriously unforgiving on race cars built on the edge of their design limits.
Accidents mean yellow flag incidents and suddenly a driver's comfortable lead is whittled down to nothing and he/she has to fend off the pack again. If you throw rain, and more cars on the circuit this year, with Virgin, Lotus and HRT struggling for pace with entirely new cars, it's going to provide more than the usual challenge for the leading teams.
Michael Schumacher has the lap record at the circuit, a 1:14.439, which he captured in 2004 with of course, Ferrari.
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