Brawn hopes Schumachers luck turns
Date published : 09 Apr 2010 - 13:15:34
Ross Brawn admits one of his major hopes for next week's Chinese Grand Prix is for Michael Schumacher to enjoy a trouble-free weekend, so the German can finally show the progress he has made since the first race.Schumacher has claimed just a single point in the two races since finishing sixth on his first grand prix back in Bahrain following his three-year retirement and has still yet to outqualify Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.However, the seven-time champion's hopes of strong finishes in each of the last two races were scuppered early on Schumacher forced to the back of the field on lap one in Australia after a spinning Fernando Alonso broke his W01's front wing and a wheel nut problem forcing him out after just 10 laps in Malaysia.Despite the misfortune, the 41-year-old has still been on the receiving end of growing media criticism over his performances so far.Having seen Rosberg secure his squad's first podium finish of the season last time out, Brawn admits he now hopes Schumacher gets the chance to show his true level of form next weekend in Shanghai."Achieving our first podium of the season with Nico was very rewarding in Malaysia at the home race of our title partner Petronas and a timely boost for the team, he said. Michael also had a strong weekend and is getting more up to speed with every race although circumstances beyond his control limited his race performance in Melbourne and Sepang. We hope to continue these signs of improvement in China and it would be particularly good for Michael to be able to have a clean race and show the progress that he has made since the start of the season.Schumacher says he is not letting himself get disheartened by the run of results and insists that, some bad luck aside, the early stages of his comeback are going as expected.Admittedly the last two races have not been very fortunate for me but I am very much aware of the reasons for it, the German said.I know how things go in F1 and if you look into the detail of the two races, I think everything is still going according to plan. You can only improve step-by-step and I am confident that we are achieving this."Although Rosberg finished behind the dominant Red Bull pair at Sepang and currently sits just four points adrift of championship leader Felipe Massa, Mercedes remains behind RBR, Ferrari and McLaren on pure performance.Brawn says the results the team has achieved so far have reflected the W01's current competitiveness, but reiterated that it is working hard to get closer to its three main rivals.We've achieved a reasonable set of results which are in line with the car's current pace but we have to be realistic and acknowledge that we are not quick enough to compete right at the front at the moment," the team boss added.This is obviously not a situation that we are happy with and we are working as hard as possible to close the gap."
