Friday: Mercedes looks forward to the rain ahead of the race
The weather forecasts being very pessimistic for the rest of the weekend, Mercedes appreciated being able to experience rainy conditions this Friday. That said, running was limited to keep sets of Rain tires in reserve.
Michael Schumacher – 8th and 3rd:
There are always things to learn from days like these, and the positive thing about today’s rain is that it’s also forecast for tomorrow and Sunday. This meant that we were able to use this day to prepare for the race, mainly on the Wet tires. We also briefly tried the Intermediate tires, but they weren’t any faster in these conditions.
The rain has been constant, which at least allowed us to complete some parts of our program. There was a lot of standing water, difficult to spot from the cockpit, which forced us to be vigilant. Today’s sessions went well, and, just in case, we know that on this circuit, with its particular characteristics, the rain offers us good chances and opportunities.
Nico Rosberg – 9th and 4th:
Overall, it was a good and productive day for us. We improved the settings during the break, which helped us since we were faster in the afternoon. It is very unusual for the weather forecast for the entire weekend to predict rain, and we haven’t driven much to conserve our limited stock of rain tires. The conditions were really tricky on the track with all these puddles, it was very difficult to find the limit. I hope we can continue to improve tomorrow.
