Same feeling here that Michael has the 1st corner in his sights, and won't stop at anything to get there first. :L
Is pole on the left or right? The first corner is a weird one, so it could mean battling to at least turn 4.
As EMSC suggests, Pole position is on the left. This is the 'outside' part of the track, which tends to be cleaner - although the dirty side of the grid is much better here than at many other circuits. So, with traction being roughly equal, Shanghai's Pole-slot only gives its driver the advantage of a few yards to the first braking point; and of course, the advantage in the braking zones is with the driver on the inside, if close enough. I expect Schumacher to launch an aggressive attack immediately - and I still have lingering question marks over Rosberg's defending abilities, which seem to vary between very good to very poor indeed. He often seems easily intimidated into submission, and usually backs out of anything approaching 50/50s. One wonders; will he put his defensive head on? On the other hand, Schumacher only has one, ruthlessly aggressive head (it's wonky shape suggests years of use as a battering-ram), so if Rosberg does put up a fight, I expect an intense scrap until either Rosberg draws out a lead or Schumacher barges past with a move designed to frighten if necessary. If Rosberg allows anyone to get alongside, he'll lose the corner; but he may have chance to return the favour in turn 2 - if he's still on track and does not give up…
Is there a clean side of the track in China? I've taken some screenshots from qualifying: please log in to view this image To get back on topic, I Rosberg does seem to be a bit of a wimp when it comes to defending - but could he man up in order to hold off Schumacher? I think he will, he won't want to be passed by Schumacher. Schumacher on the hand, will certainly try very hard to get ahead of Rosberg. That could be an interesting fight tomorrow.
And while they're both fighting at the front, it gives Button, Hamilton and co. a chance to catch up and make it interesting. Not forgetting Kamui in the Sauber and Kimi in the Lotus! So excited for this race!
The only reason why Rosberg is a "wimp" at defending is because he's clever, he doesnt want pointless battles with people who are going to beat him anyway, as it could end his race or make him lose places in the end. When it matters, i think he's one of the best defenders.
Rosberg is a whimp when he starts 6th-7th he would rather make it through then risk crashing into somebody. But he look pretty solid when up the front and even took it to Webber at Turkey last year.
I remember watching Nico win the GP2 championship years ago, he can defend if needs be and I don't think he will be intimidated by King Schumi and his wonky fizog.
The expected scrap at the start didn't materialise in the end did it. Well done to Nico for a dominant performance and his maiden GP victory, not a bad feeling for him after 100+ races!
Great job by Rosberg, though I'm sure he would have had a much harder time had Schumacher been up there.
This. Though we don't know how much of it was tactics, Rosberg was able to pull away comfortably from Schumacher off the grid and throughout the first stint. Will be interesting to watch if that dynamic is reversed in Spain.
Schumacher has been very unlucky so far this season. I am sure he would have been on the podium today had it not been for cock up in the pits.
Yes, I know he can. My point was that sometimes his defending has also been rather weak. Quite right. Rosberg just blew him into the weeds at the start and over those crucial first few laps. - And then the rest of them! Yes, I agree. I think his intention to conserve tyres was overdone. At no point did he come close to Rosberg's pace. Totally agree. (As above) Yes. He was seriously unlucky today; and I fear a certain mechanic's head may be close to rolling. However, without such incident, I do not believe Schumacher had podium pace. Too slow and still not really got to grips with how to work these tyres.
I think it was nip and tuck with regards to whether Michael would have got a podium. He would no doubt be in that fight in the end and I think he would definitely have got at least 4th. His pace up until his retirement was reasonable within the podium places. Good observement on whether he has fully understood these tyres. He has always had an aggressive driving style but as we've seen over the last couple of years these tyres definitely favour the smoother less intense driving style which is a major reason why Button has really risen in prominence since last year. But yeah Schumacher has been terribly unlucky so far. Strong qualifying performances but terrible luck in the races through absolutely no fault of his own. Let's hope he can get that bit of luck he fully deserves.
New low for Schumi, scoring 25 times less points than his team mate. Be interesting to see what Schumacher comes up with in the next few races, a lot of people were saying he'd up his game once he had a race winning car, maybe be as dirty on track as he used to be as well. I don't think he has the ruthless streak he used to, seems a much more likeable and down to earth guy these days. Only a matter of time before he adds to his already intimidating records though, three retirements this season, none of which were his fault. We could get to the end of the season and find out it's cost him an 8th world championship.
You mean 2 retirements, he finished 10th in Malaysia. He has has been the most unlucky driver this season; gearbox retirement in australia, spun around by the lotus in malaysia and an unsafe release resulting in a dnf in china. Luck will change at some point.
unlucky today, but I'm suspcious of the gearbox problem in Aus, looked to me like he did the same as Vettel but hit the banked dirt hard and the gearbox problem was caused by that. I don't think he would've got the podium either, Rosberg got 'lucky' in that he wasn't held up anywhere near as much as those behind, Schumacher would've been stuck behind as well. It would've been more interesting if Hamilton hadn't got the grid penalty, , maybe he could've made Rosberg work for it. Don;t get me wrong, Rosberg did his job well today, no doubt, but I'd say it was his favourite track, next week could be a completely different story with the Merc at the back again, in which case I'd say Schumacher will get the upper hand because Rosberg doesn't give the impression he knows how to mix it. All that said, this result willl've given his confidence a huge boost, he's looked a bit beaten and given some lacklustre performances since India IMO, now he can call himself a GP winner he knows he can do it it could be the worst thing for Schumacher as far as championship contantion goes.
