Michael Schumacher on Mercedes GP Petronas - Day 3 testing

Michael Schumacher returned to the cockpit of the MGP W01 car in Valencia today for the third and final day of the first Formula One pre-season test session.

Following his first experience of the new 2010 car on Monday afternoon, Michael spent the early part of his first full day working on the set-up and developing the balance of the car. For the afternoon, the focus switched to long runs before a hydraulic problem on the car brought the day to a close one hour early.

Michael completed 82 laps today and set the third fastest time - a 01:12.438.

The next test for the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team starts on Wednesday 10 February in Jerez, Spain.

Michael Schumacher: “I’m very happy to have been back in a Formula One car this week. We had a short run on Monday and then almost a full day today which has been good. The experience has been very positive and the car is running smoothly with just a small hydraulic leak which stopped us slightly early today. The main focus is on reliability and doing as many laps as we can so we’re not too worried about looking at the lap times right now. It’s a new challenge and a new experience for me this year but knowing Ross so well and working with him again has made it very easy and I feel at home in the team already. I’m feeling fresh and motivated and very positive about the season ahead. I can’t wait to be back in the car to continue the programme in Jerez next week.”

MERCEDES GP PETRONAS

First test of the new MERCEDES GP PETRONAS in Valencia on 1 February 2010 with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Nico was at the wheel in the morning whilst Michael took over in the afternoon.

The Mercedes-Benz gull-wing...

I've always thought that the original gull-wing, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL was one of the best looking cars that MB ever created and this was a work of a genius when it was made available to the public in 1954. Yea, Lambos had their scissors doors that slide up, and while it looks cool and all, you can't deny that the gull-wing made the car look like a plane. Although it looks amazing, the doors were rubbish. You see, the door sills as you can see there were made rather unusual and if you were to sit in it, it'll be as if you were sitting in a boat or some sorts. This meant getting in and out was rather troublesome. To rectify this, Mercedes-Benz introduced a tilt-away steering column to ease access, but since there were no electronics back then, you'd have to do it manually... still much of a chore.

But who cares? You had doors that flapped like a large bird of prey and back then, this was the fastest production car money could buy. But then again, it was a pain to live with, kinda like how all supercars were back then. This car was the first-ever gasoline powered car to have fuel injection directly into the combustion chamber and since they did not have any ECU or control device back then, the injection had to be done manually via a mechanical fuel pump. This created a lot of problems as it did not do it in intervals, but rather continuously. So, when the engine was running, it'll s quirt. When you came to a halt, it'll squirt. That's fine. The problem comes when the fuel pump actually squirts fuel into the chambers during the interval between shutting off the ignition and the engine coming to a stop and with the access fuel in the engine, it acts as a cleaning agent by washing off all lubricating oil on the cylinder walls and diluting the lube itself. You can imagine what that'll do to the engine in the long run... I'll leave that to your imagination.

The above is the latest print ad that Mercedes-Benz has come up with for the latest SLS AMG. I like the tag-line, "A cockpit. An engine. Two wings. Is it still a car?"

That really stirs up your heart when you look at it. OK, I'm still pissed that the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren had an automatic gearbox and for those of us who have driven a Mercedes-Benz automatic gearbox know that it's one that doesn't work on a sports car. If it doesn't work on a sports car, why give one to a supercar? I'm glad that the new SLS AMG has a better gearbox mated to the engine and this is one masterpiece that ALL the people involved with the car has to be given credit. It looks good on paper and sounds good as well. From the statements that the fortunate motoring journalists in Europe who have driven the car, I can find no faults with the car. The future looks bright for the SLS AMG.

It'll do 100km/h in 3.8 seconds and that's supercar territory. I'll leave the write up about the car for another posting but for the time being, here's an advert of the all-new SLS AMG featuring none other than their current driver for Mercedes GP Petronas, Michael Schumacher introducing the car. Enjoy.

Michael Schumacher on Mercedes GP Petronas

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER:

“Finally the 2010 Formula One season is firing up! I have to say that I am totally committed to this new challenge. This season feels like a re-start for me and I am so motivated. We have a very exciting combination at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS. We have a World Champion team in every sense of the word and I cannot wait to get into the car for the first time in Valencia. I am convinced that MERCEDES GP PETRONAS will be in a very good position to fight for the championships this season and I will definitely give it a go. Driving for Mercedes-Benz again is like the closing of a circle for me as I started my racing driver career with the three-pointed star on my helmet. This is another reason why I cannot wait for the competition to get underway.”