That April 15, 2012 was also the first time that Mercedes managed to win in the modern era of F1, and, without a doubt, a clear sign of what was to come in the coming years.
Nine seasons later, the German brand has accumulated eight constructors’ and seven drivers’ double titles, but we must not forget the turning point that Nico Rosberg’s victory in Shanghai represented for a team that was not yet in the pools of favourites. Think about where Alpine or McLaren are now and you will understand what a huge leap Mercedes made back then.
Brawn GP had won the title in 2009 after the great initial advantage that its double diffuser gave it. When Mercedes bought the team at the end of the year and signed Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, it seemed obvious that they would continue the winning trend… but nothing could be further from the truth.
In 2010 and 2011 the team was a regular in fourth place, far behind Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari. Everything was more complicated than expected. Ross Brawn worked hard to put everything in its place, signing big names like Bob Bell, Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis.
All that experience contributed to the 2012 F1 Mercedes W03 boasting a major feature known as dual DRS. His presence in the car, as well as the way in which Brawn and his men defended its legality, were signs of what was to come. However, the first two races of the year in Australia and Malaysia were a disaster and Mercedes struggled to hit the Pirelli windows.
Mercedes’ first pole position in F1… 57 years later
But in China everything changed. Rosberg achieved Mercedes’ first pole on his return as an official team and his first as an F1 driver, while Schumacher accompanied him in the front row after Lewis Hamilton was penalized for mounting a new gearbox.
Throughout the paddock the rivals were clear that the silver arrows would fall as the race started. However, Brawn was confident. The key was to anticipate the temperature on race day, since in the first two rounds there were big differences between Saturday and Sunday.
Rosberg managed to get off to a perfect start and made it to Turn 1 with space. At the end of the first lap he put seven tenths on Schumacher, and in the second he was already far from the DRS distance. Riding in clean air, being able to manage your pace and your tires were key that day.
Schumacher began to lose ground as the first stint progressed, already dropping 5.2 seconds by lap 10. Nico was running like a stopwatch before the first stops, where the Mercedes stayed on track while their rivals stopped.
The plan was to reach the finish line with only two stops, as long as the first relay opened enough space. The seven-time world champion’s stoppage was perhaps a little early, but it was a necessary sacrifice for Rosberg’s stoppage to be perfect. The problem was that Schumacher’s right front wheel was not tightened properly and he had to retire when he realized it midway through the out lap. All the eggs were in the same basket.
The next challenge was for Rosberg to have a decent middle tag. The key was to make the second stop as late as possible. The danger: that it would be threatened if the last set of tires did not perform perfectly.
The year before, in Shanghai, Vettel had tried a two-stop strategy, but Hamilton beat him to it with three… and 2012 seemed like a repeat, but with different actors. Button was the big threat. In fact, after his second stop on lap 24, the Briton had tires 11 laps newer than Rosberg’s and the difference was 23.4 seconds.
At the end of that second stint, Rosberg began to lose a great deal of time to Button, leading to gaps of two seconds per lap. Just before his second stop on lap 34, the gap had fallen to 12.3.
Squeezing the Pirelli to the finish line
Ahead: 22 laps with the same game. The German began to take advantage of having newer tyres, taking three seconds in the five laps before the Englishman stopped on 39… and his chances were ruined. The pit stop was slow and cost him six seconds, leaving him at the back of the pack.
We will never know if the 2009 world champion would have been able to catch Rosberg’s Mercedes and pass him. The German won for the first time in Formula 1 with a 20.6 second advantage and completed a brilliant job by the whole team. Tire management had paid off and James Vowles , the strategist, hit the nail on the head.
This opened up the possibility that Schumacher, at 43, would once again have a winning car on his hands. But hopes were dashed. The German could only achieve a third place in Valencia and Rosberg was second in Monaco to complete the rest of the podiums that the team would add that season. Mercedes finished 5th in the championship… but China showed that they could win races and Hamilton took this into account when he began to assess his options for 2013 in September.
Brawn and Niki Lauda convinced him that next year’s car would be better and that the V6 turbo hybrid era starting in 2014 would give them wings. That winter important names came to Mercedes (Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe) and in the last year of the V8 Mercedes won four races, achieved eight pole positions and was runner-up, doubling the points from the previous year. The hybrid era awaited them with open arms…
All Mercedes victories in Formula 1
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