Last year's results:
Wins: 8 (Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, Turkey, European, Italy)
Poles: 5 (Australia, Malaysia, Spain, Monaco, Brazil)
Fastest Laps: 3 (Malaysia, China, Turkey)
Points: 172 (World Constructors Champions)
Drivers: Jenson Button (95 points, World Champion) Rubens Barrichello (77 points, third in the championship)
*All results were as BrawnGP.
Changes:
Jenson Button - out
Rubens Barrichello - out
Michael Schumacher - in
Nico Rosberg - in
BrawnGP sold to Mercedes-Benz
Pentronas - in as sponsors and supplier
Three Questions:
1: What can we expect from Michael Schumacher?
My arch-enemy is back... the one... the only... Michael Schumacher. The devil is back with a silver lining this time. Seeing that fake plastic smile back makes my skin crawl. However, what are we to expect from him?
Despite all my hatred for the guy, he was a world-class talent. For a short time, he was probably the best driver on the planet. Noticed I used the past tense there. Everyone now is remembering the 2000 Michael Schumacher, not the Schumacher that left the sport in 2006. It was noticeable that the man was mortal those last two years he was in Formula One. Some of it was the problems Ferrari had developing those cars. A lot of it was the fact that he was getting old. He was still winning race, but the edge he had over the rest of the field was gone.
Now it's four years later. He is four years older. The cars are different. The tires are different. Knowing Ross Brawn, I know the car will be there. However, coming back from a break like this will take a lot. Add to the fact that the field he will be racing in is the strongest since he was racing Prost, Mansell, and Senna 20 years ago.
Will he score points: Yes. Might he win the odd race: Yes. Is he is a instant championship contender? I am not sure. Even if he gets settled back in the seat, I think there is too much competing talent out there.
Final note: I think the team possibly signing Nick Heifeld as a test driver tells me that they are not sure what they are going to get out of Michael or even possibly Nico. Speaking of which...
2: Can Nico Rosberg finally live up to the hype?
This is actually a more intriguing question to me then how Michael Schumacher will do.
For the last several year, I've believed that Nico Rosberg has been one of the most over-rated driver on the grid. I've never understood why everyone was hot on "Goldilocks." Yes, he is media savvy and looks good on TV. However, I've watch almost every single race in his F1 career, and have never thought "Wow! That was an amazing drive by Nico!"
In my mind, he has never been able to get the most out of the car. For example, I believe that the Williams last year was a race winner. The team just had two drivers that couldn't get the job done. Kazu Nakajima was forced on the team by Toyota, so his uselessness is understandable. Nico, even though he scored podiums, constantly shot himself in the foot.
So now he got the golden ticket and went to Mercedes. So how will he do? I personally think he will continue to confound. In a way, he will be the perfect teammate for Michael Schumacher. He is not a threat to Schumacher with both his passive personality and lack of talent. Personally, I rather have the hungry, consistent Nick Heidfeld then the inconsistent, complacent Rosberg. But then again that would make Schumacher look bad.
3: How will Mercedes handle being on their own?
Not sure. The only parallel I could think of to this was when BMW left Williams and bought out Peter Sauber. That's a tenuous one because Mercedes is a lot more experienced in the sport than BMW ever was and the Brawn is three times the team Sauber was when BMW bought it out. Nick Fry and Ross Brawn are the luckiest men on the planet. Honda basically gives them the team and a world championship car to operate. They then parlay that into a giant payday with Mercedes.
In terms of their relationship, I see a similar relationship between the ex-Brawn team and their parent company as McLaren had with Mercedes. Still, now that it is THEIR team, who knows how Mercedes might act. However, the best thing that Mercedes can do is just stay out of Ross Brawn's way.
The Tea Leaves...
Best Case Scenario: Ross Brawn nails the new regulations again and creates a car that is the envy of the field for the first few races. Michael Schumacher regains his skill fast and starts winning races by mid-season. Nico Rosberg proves me wrong and wins several races. Mercedes stays out of they way while the team wins the constructors championship... but not the drivers championship.
Worse Case Scenario: Michael Schumacher fails in his return as the regulations and cars are too much learn in this short of time. Nico Rosberg has a Nico Rosberg year where he shows something for one race and is useless for the rest of the year. Controversy breaks out at the team as Ross Brawn wants to replace Michael or Nico with Nick Heifeld but is turned down by Mercedes management. The in-fighting in the team destroy all chances for the team to remain competitive the second half of the year.
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