Turkish GP team-by-team: Mercedes

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With Ferrari struggling, Mercedes were the third-fastest team around Istanbul, though a long way off Red Bull and McLaren.

Michael SchumacherNico Rosberg
Qualifying position56
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)1’26.857 (-0.095)1’26.952
Race position45
Average race lap1’32.392 (-0.02)1’32.412
Laps58/5858/58
Pit stops11

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Michael Schumacher

Looking more like his old self with every passing race. Schumacher out-qualified Rosberg despite spinning off on his final lap.

Took advantage of starting on the clean side of the track to pass Jenson Button at turn one, but lost the position on the run down to turn 12 later on in the lap.

Held position at the pit stops and pulled away from Rosberg at the beginning of the second stint. Rosberg caught him in later in the stint but wasn’t able to get close enough to pass.

Compare Michael Schumacher’s form against his team mate in 2010

Nico Rosberg

Out-qualified by Schumacher for only the second time this year by a narrow margin of less than a tenth of a second.

Running behind Schumacher at the start of the race with Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa close behind, Mercedes faced a challenge to pit both their drivers without losing track position.

Schumacher, leading, had the advantage of pitting first which left Rosberg vulnerable. But his crew performed the quickest pit stop of the race and got him back out ahead of Kubica.

Compare Nico Rosberg’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 Turkish Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 Turkish Grand Prix articles

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    7 comments on “Turkish GP team-by-team: Mercedes”

    1. I don’t know why Schumacher pitted first. They should tell Nico that he can pit first, but only if he agrees to let Schumacher through if he overtakes him in the pits.

      1. i think Schumacher pitted first because he is running on the old tires, the set of tires which he scored his fasted qualifications lap.
        this set was used for many laps while the set that was Nico running on was only used for one lap.

      2. It seems that most of the teams are practising a policy where if their drivers are running close together, without a rival between them, the lead car gets to pit first to prevent him being jumped by the second car.

        If I remember correctly this didn’t happen in Monaco with the Red Bulls – Vettel pitted first though Webber was ahead. But Webber was so far ahead it wasn’t going to make a difference. In that instance it was more important they protected Vettel from being passed by Kubica.

        If they did what Enigma describes they could find themselves in trouble for having their drivers swap positions. Plus there’s the added potential for confusion – how do they decide one driver didn’t legitimately get ahead of the other by doing faster in and out laps?

        1. Now here’s another fine line that I guarantee will come under scrutiny soon, perhaps even this season… that of team orders and their relationship to the sporting regulations.

          All this talk of codewords and pre-planned pacts between drivers is bound to be the next rule scandal in F1. You heard it hear first!

          1. or ‘here’ first even… my apologies! :)

    2. Now that is a pretty evenly matched pair. I still feel however that no matter how much they say their driving styles are similar, Rosberg is far more comfortable with a touch of understeer rather than oversteer.

    3. Do you feel watching Michael that he is getting back into his stride with each race.It cannot be long before he has a podium.

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