F1 Fanatic

Schumacher was second with six laps to go but couldn’t keep Webber and Button behind.

Mercedes drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, Montreal, 2011

Michael Schumacher

Schumacher qualified eighth, complaining of a car problem that cost him time: “I had lost drive momentarily after turn four during my last lap but otherwise I had a clean lap”.

He followed Rosberg’s lead in switching to intermediate tyres – but the return of the rain caught them out and both had to switch back to wets.

When the race restarted he tried to pass Rosberg at the final chicane but couldn’t make it through.

He switched to intermediates on lap 34 – two laps before Rosberg – and gained several places by doing do, moving up to seventh.

On lap 42 he took an advantage of a mistake by Mark Webber to take sixth, which became fifth after Paul di Resta hit Nick Heidfeld.

Three laps later he used DRS to pass Heidfeld. He quickly caught the battling Kamui Kobayshi and Felipe Massa and took advantage of a mistake by the Sauber driver to pass the pair of them.

After switching to slick tyres he came under pressure from Webber and Jenson Button. Equipped with DRS, it was only a matter of time before they passed him.

He took the final restart well and even had a look at passing Vettel, but soon fell back into the clutches of his pursuers.

First Button, then Webber picked off the Mercedes. That left Schumacher a season-best fourth but still yet to stand on the podium following his 2010 comeback.

“I am leaving this race with one eye laughing and one eye crying, as I am not sure if I should be excited or sad about it,” he said.

“Having been in second place towards the end, I would obviously have loved to finish there and be on the podium again”.

Michael Schumacher 2011 form guide

Nico Rosberg

Rosberg was fastest in the first practice session and later said Mercedes had made progress with their tyre wear problem:

“I’m pretty confident that we can do better in the race, certainly compared to our pace in Monaco. We’ve put in a lot of work on race performance and I hope we can translate that”.

The wet running meant we didn’t get to see if the W02 would treat its tyres any better.

Pitting later than Schumacher for intermediates hurt him badly. He was hit by Adrian Sutil and then passed by the two Williams drivers.

After the final restart he got past Jaime Alguersuari and Rubens Barrichello as they were held up by Kamui Kobayashi. That left him seventh.

With three laps to go he hit Kobayashi trying to pass the Sauber, damaging his front wing, and allowing Felipe Massa past.

The wing came off on the final lap and he was unable to prevent Alguesuari, Barrichello, and Sebastien Buemi all passing him, leaving him out of the points.

Nico Rosberg 2011 form guide

2011 Canadian Grand Prix

• Technical review: 2011 Canadian Grand Prix
• 2011 Canadian Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
• Vote for your Canadian GP driver of the weekend
• McLaren: Button makes amends for collision with stunning win
• Red Bull: Vettel finally cracks under pressure
• Ferrari: Alonso rues ‘bad luck’ after retiring
• Mercedes: Schumacher misses out on podium
• Sauber: Kobayashi slips from second to seventh
• Renault: Heidfeld crash leaves Petrov fifth
• Williams: Barrichello in points, Maldonado crashes

Image © Mercedes