Mercedes find the silver lining in titleless 2011
by The Badger on Dec 5th, 2011Whilst it was a Renault-powered Red Bull that scooped the drivers' and constructors’' crowns this season the French engine manufacturer was not king of the hill in 2011.
Because German rivals Mercedes picked up the most points over the course of the year, with its three outfits - Mercedes GP, McLaren and Force India - scoring a combined total of 731 to beat Renault by a mere eight points.
In addition to this the six Merc-powered cars completed the most race kilometres in the 2011 season, achieving an impressive 92% of the total possible.
And, quite incredibly, there have been only two failures in 330 races for Mercedes between 2009 and 2011: Adrian Sutil at Australia 2010 and Michael Schumacher at Monaco this season.
Michael Schumacher aboard his Mercedes at this year's Spanish GP. Photo: Sutton Images
"This is a good result and quite a satisfying one for our engine specialists to score three times in a row the most points per season in Formula One as an engine manufacturer," commented Norbert Haug.
"Our reliability record is also worthy of mention and our target will be to stay at the level we have achieved, or even to improve it."
And yet we think we're quite right in saying Norbert would happily trade this accolade - which Mercedes have now won three years in a row - for a drivers or constructors world title.
Unofficial Engine Constructors' Championship 2011
Engine make Points Laps Km raced
Mercedes 731 6,233 31,916 Renault 723 6,107 31,185 Ferrari 460 6,080 31,027 Cosworth 5 5,588 28,507
Info source: Motorsport-Magazin.com
