When Nico Rosberg crossed the line to seal a dominant
maiden victory in Shanghai, it felt as though a slumbering giant
had awakened. The imperious Mercedes marque had been dormant as a
constructor in its own right for over half a century, and upon its
return had spent two years battling ineffectually in the midfield.
Now the three-pointed star was shining brightly once more, and the
Formula One landscape looked to be changed irreversibly.
The season began glumly enough. Two very average campaigns had
dampened the paddock's expectations of Ross Brawn's team, and
nobody was particularly shocked when they registered a solitary
point from the first couple of races. There were glimpses of
promise, with Schumacher hustling the his W03 onto the second row
in both Australia and Malaysia. However, the distinct lack of
bankable results appeared to affirm the opinion that the Mercedes
threat would be averted for another year.
This misplaced sense of security continued to prevail until
Friday, 13th April. It was an unlucky day indeed for the Silver
Arrows' rivals, who saw their protest against the team's unorthodox
drag reduction system heavily defeated by a unanimous stewards
decision. The following afternoon the Mercedes duo locked out the
front row, and when the lights went out Rosberg put in a mesmeric
performance to defeat his nearest challenger by a margin of twenty
seconds. It was an ominous display, and no sooner had the German
left the podium than attention turned to the possibility of a title
challenge.
Such a commanding victory ought to have held assurances of further
success, particularly in a field characterised by close combat and
intense competition. And yet, the team's breakthrough triumph has
been followed by a return to relative mediocrity. The formidable
force on show in Shanghai has been contained and countered by the
other runners, and aside from Rosberg's hard fought second place in
Monaco the car has once more been fit for points rather than
podiums.
Whilst Rosberg is frustrated by woeful performance, chronic
unreliability has been Schumacher's downfall. The forty-three year
old is at last doing a stellar job behind the wheel, and had he
finished the first seven races in his starting position he would
now have seventy-six points to his name and a championship battle
on his hands. Instead he has just two points, and his tally of five
retirements (four of them out of his control) is almost criminal in
an era of near-bulletproof reliability.
There Mercedes' problems lie. They have developed a car with
undoubted potential, which is going by-and-large untapped. Part of
this is a sub-standard development programme, which has left the
solid but static W03 to be consumed by its fast evolving rivals. A
second issue is the car's tendency to truly prosper only in cool
conditions, which are increasingly rare. And of course, they've
just not had the reliability. Recurrent problems include hydraulic
issues and gearbox failures, and such basic shortcomings have had a
devastating effect on the scoreboard.
There are other factors at play here, not least a remarkably
constrained budget (comprised entirely of prize money and
sponsorship, with no input from the company) and a string of human
errors both inside and outside the cockpit. Collisions, loose
wheels and qualifying mishaps have all made the current campaign
particularly turbulent, with much of the incompetence affecting one
side of the garage.
Mercedes are not a weak team. They have a winning car, two proven
drivers and a superb array of personnel. Moreover, it is worth
remembering that thirteen races remain, and that their championship
is far from over. Rosberg is one of seven different winners so far,
and as such remains within striking distance of the top of the
table. But whilst the inconsistency of the season so far has kept
the team in the running, the unyielding competitiveness threatens
to rule them out of it - if Mercedes cannot simultaneously keep
pace, eliminate failures and banish human error then their best
chance yet will quickly pass.