wouldnt suprise me if the merc one was just extra airflow to the engine seeing as they had some heat problems last year

you really think that's still an issue? i thought that was an issue last year because they had to just cram the engine into the back. i would have thought it might be resolved now...

No way is that a snorkel with the same function as on the McLaren. Maybe additional cooling for electronics boxes etc or even the driver but Brawn has already said that they will have to develop one. The thing to look out for is the exit slot on the back of the rear wing.

If you look closely at old picture, you will notice a small opening that has not been utilized yet for the snorkel.

Therefore, it is possible that they have always known about this opening but have yet to attach the snorkel into pocket until a few hours ago in practice session 2.

And the actual rear wing itself has to be changed...to direct the air upwards.

The fact that Mercedes don't have a shark fins proves that they don't have a snorkel.

If it was a snorkel they wouldn't place it behind a wishbone,in the path of disrupted airflow,I think.

With homologation now, it makes harder for the teams to copy each other. Like Ferrari wheels, McLaren snorkel and else. Because every team homologates his wheels and can't change them now. Ferrari homologates their tires with this fairings. If you don't have openings in the tube in McLaren position, you will have problem to develop snorkel(shark fin is easier to make). MGP don't have openings on the top of the nose in this place.

just saw on RTL that Michael has a monster energy sponsor on his helmet, is it just his sponsor?

Rozberg also have it, new cooling openings on the car.

The Sky guys said a new frontwing arrived this morning

Not bad for FP3, I didn't see new wing. I think two drivers drive different programs, and now they will decide the best set up for Qualification.

wow Rosberg so far
I dont agree, i think they were on similar programs, atleast here at the end

I'm imressed with Rosberg. He made good laps. He has the same sector times as Alonso!

hell yeah the car seems to be fast . and now just 0.2 between Nico and Michael

Mercedes seems to have a really good car, I think many feared that they
would be behind RedBull, Ferrari and McLaren. So far that doesn´t seems
to be the case.

I would say P1-P4 for Nico in qualifying and P4-P7 for Michael, which would be satisfying

Not S3..matched S1 and S2. Mercedes seems in the ball-park of the 2nd best car along with Redbull...

0.165 actually - and I'm hoping Michael will shave off another tenth or so in qualifying..I have no doubt , overall Michael will beat Rosberg this season.

Finger crossed for Quali, difference between drivers is normal. If Michael coming after 3 years beat Nico on first practices , what this will tell about Nico? That he don't have place in MGP. This is why it is normal. This is why they signed him. There will be a problem for Schumi if he was 1 sec and more behind Nico. But he is close. Nico also have 22,9 in last sector, but on another lap.

In his best lap Rosberg matched Alonso first and second sectors. But on another lap he matched Alonso's third.

Agree. A small gap to Ferrari, but second to none other so far.

Both drivers' pace are very good, the car is much better than I (or we) had expected... it could be even a pole position. If Rosberg could run his best sector times in the same lap, it could be his first pole. We'll see. But overall I'm satisfied, much better than I expected.

Well ,I am just happy that the car seems competitive and the team has a good car to develop for the rest of the season.As for schumi and rosberg ,schumi seems to be closing the gap every session so that's great .

The car is looking good, which is encouraging. Again though we have to wait to see what happens when it counts, but we can he optimistic I guess!

Fair call

Rusty MS is making Rosberg look better than he is.

yeah, i was one of them, but nice to see it works

Same here. Good thing is the car seems to have pace.

Yeh, whether you're behind Nico or Michael or supporting both, the main thing to be seemingly relieved about is the car has pace.

P1 for Rosberg is rather unlikely. Ferrari is simply faster. Both Alonso and Massa would have to make mistake and there are Red Bull guys too.

This is not the same as Mclaren - Its simply a cooling duct for the driver!

The now famous McLaren duct goes through the engine cover to the Upper Rear Wing Flap - The Mercedes does not so cant have the same function.

I think in the end this year will win reliable car. Hope two drivers today on first two rows.

Any news on Mercedes' long-awaited diffuser?

So is the mercedes oversteer or understeer? With 0.3 gap all weekend so far for Schumacher it would appear the car is handling how Rosberg likes it, but not Schumacher?

7th for Schumi.

Not bad? Kind of disappointed, but ahhh...I'll take it.

Schumacher is loosing to much in S1. dunno what is wrong there

so rosberg clearly in front all weekend

First sector was difficult for Michael, loosing 0,3s all the time there.

Well bad, I am disappointed.

Do you want to compare with Kimi's WDC challenge? no ...

7th is pretty nice for Schumi,was expecting a bit more from him though but he is in a good position for the race

Oh, and not to mention, the cam coverage was terrible. I honestly can't remember if I saw Schumi do his flying lap just for once, not even Rosberg? Merc needs more love from the cam media.

So pretty much the result I expected although I thought Nico would be closer to the front.
Hopefully both drivers can make up 1-2 positions tomorrow.

MGP drivers didn't reach their morning times? What happen? Because 1,1s to Vettel not good, they were keeping tires for the start? Tomorrow can happen, a lot of things. 5 and 7 on the clear side of the track.

Before Friday, I'd have wished for more. But it became obvious Schumi couldn't deliver more at this point, and after the near out in Q2, I'm reasonably happy with the 7th place.

Looking forward to the race, a top five finish would be amazing.

P.S. Wow, the difference to Red Bull.

Good improvement from MS in the last session!

0.3 sec off teammate's pace on a long lap isn't that bad, considering he hasn't raced competitively for 3.5 yrs

he was consistently 0.3 sec off Rosberg in sector 1 only literally every lap, sector 2 and 3 he was on par with Rosberg.....different setup, maybe?

Considering he struggled with understeery nature of the car, ít's really not a bad performance for the 1st comeback race!

Heidfled was right about Redbull. They're king in S2 which shows their high downforce. Mercedes have got work to do.

yeah exactly
The only time i saw Schumy was on the pit box...same with Roseberg

With the gap being so consistant it does suggest the car is not handling to how Schumacher wants it.. and that may well be due to the car design rather than the setup. Question is will Merc GP adjust the car to throw it into a more oversteer nature to suit Schumacher but hinder Rosberg.

Schumacher is closer to Rosberg than Alonso is to Massa, Webbet to Vettel, and Button to Hamilton. All in all the old man has done a good job. The BBC in their useless wisdom trying to make a bigger story out of it.

Michael said they suffered a bit from the higher temperatures, it was better in the morning.
They have to understand the package better to see why that was the case.