Michael Schumacher, 7th: “We achieved what was possible for us today, and we have to be satisfied with that. We were pretty competitive towards the end of the race, but overall we knew that the characteristics of this circuit wouldn’t suit us in normal conditions – we definitely could have done better in the wet. Even so, we managed to score a few points, which can be important for the team. Our attention now turns to Hockenheim, our next home circuit, where things should look better in any case. I can only say to all motorsport fans that we are counting on your support. Like always in Germany, it will be a very special weekend, and we want to celebrate it together with them. So make sure you’re there in Hockenheim!”
Nico Rosberg, 15th: “The whole weekend just hasn’t gone to plan for me which is a bit unexpected and really disappointing. In the race today, I had a poor start and generally we just didn’t have the pace. Then a slow second pit stop held me up towards the end; so all in all, it really didn’t come together. Now we need to work hard to improve the car for our next home race at Hockenheim in two weeks time. Hockenheim is a completely different circuit to here which should suit our car better, and we will hope to put on a great show for all of our fans there.”
Ross Brawn: “We were the fourth best team today and that was reflected in Michael’s seventh place finish on the road. Clearly, our pace in the dry didn’t match our competitiveness yesterday in the wet, and we will have to take a good look at the data to find out why. Both drivers experienced graining on the option tyre this afternoon – Michael in his first stint, Nico in the final one – and that certainly compromised our performance at important parts of the race. Michael drove solidly to seventh place, defending his position against the cars around him, and he was particularly competitive in the final stint – right up to setting his fastest time on the final lap of the race. Nico’s race was compromised by a bad start, which left him 15th at the end of the first lap. From then, he was fighting an uphill battle, and it was hard to find clean air for him to run in, which further complicated things. We can take positives from our weekend – including our much-improved wet weather performance – and we will work hard to learn our lessons from today before Hockenheim.”
Norbert Haug: “Not a great result for us today after a good qualifying performance from Michael yesterday. We expected rain this afternoon and Michael’s car was not ideally balanced during the first half of the race. Michael’s lap times in the second half were much better compared to the fastest cars at the front and he finally finished 7th after 52 laps, 30 seconds behind winner Mark Webber, after overtaking Lewis Hamilton with five laps remaining. Nico started 11th and lost four places during lap one which prevented him from scoring points today. We now are looking forward to our next home race in two weeks at Hockenheim, where we will welcome the spectators with a very special, cost-free programme at the Mercedes Grandstand.”
