They are after all, teammates.

German driver Nico Rosberg has defended under-fire teammate Michael Schumacher as a remarkable reversal of fortune has unfolded within Mercedes this 2010 F1 season.

Despite Michael Schumacher spending three years in retirement prior to his return to Formula One at the start of this season, many expected the seven-time World Champion to dominate Nico Rosberg.

With Nico Rosberg also new to Mercedes following his switch from Williams, and with Schumacher close friends with team boss Ross Brawn, it seemed inevitable the 41-year-old would hold sway.

Schumacher, though, has struggled throughout his comeback and so far has been out-qualified and out-raced by Rosberg by a count of six to two.

In the grand prix in Canada, Schumacher looked at times like a rookie rather than a legendary racer with a host of records to his name. Schumacher’s performance prompted a further wave of criticism that arguably he is now too old and no longer cut out for Formula One. But Rosberg, who celebrated his 25th birthday and so is 16 years Schumacher’s junior, said: “He’s had some very strong races this year.”

“Sometimes I’ve had the upper hand, but in general…”

Drama has always been expected every single time F1 goes back to Canada.

And the Canadian Grand Prix this 2010 F1 season wasn’t any different. In fact, it has always been that way, from home hero Gilles Villeneuve’s victory in the inaugural race in 1978, through the tense 1980 title decider and the 1981 monsoon, to Nigel Mansell losing victory when he stopped on the last lap in 1991, Jean Alesi’s sole F1 triumph in 1995, Michael Schumacher charging back from a penalty to win amid chaos in 1998, and brother Ralf defeating him in F1’s first family one-two three years later.

Montreal is one of F1’s favorite host cities, and it gives the championship a foothold in the teams’ and sponsors’ treasured North American market at a time when the new United States Grand Prix is still two years away.

There were the explosive recent races that saw Lewis Hamilton take his first F1 victory in Canada in 2007, and Robert Kubica shrug off his horrifying crash in that race to lead a shock BMW one-two in Montreal a year later.

The top five drivers in the standings were expected to dominate this event especially league leader Mark Webber of RBR Renault, who tries to bounce back from an accident that involved his teammate Sebastian Vettel.

McLaren’s Jenson Button will make a push to overtake Webber at the top spot. Button admits mistakes will not be tolerated in Canada, the venue for Lewis Hamilton’s first-ever grand prix win.

”It’s fantastic to be going back to Montreal after a year away. I think everyone in Formula 1 loves the city, the people and the track, so it’s very fitting that we’re heading back – particularly during one of the best seasons we’ve had for years,” he said.

While Lewis Hamilton also tries to get back on the winning track…

Formula one race cars are heading towards the Canadian Grand Prix.

After the thrills and spills at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix followed by the frustration of the Turkish Grand Prix, circuit Gilles Villeneuve will host the upcoming race, for which the stands have been stretched out in Montreal to embrace the cars and drivers on the 16th of June, 2010. Yep, we’ll have the Canadian Grand Prix this 2010 F1 season.

No race was scheduled for the year 2009; however, a contract was signed for the races to be held from 2010-2014. As the countdown begins with the memories from the Turkish Grand Prix fresh in the minds of many, the Canadian Grand Prix is the one to watch out for.

Back in 2008, BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld finished second in a BMW Sauber car, with David Coulthard third in a Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole position, failed to finish the race, retiring on lap 19 after crashing into the back of Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari car in the pit lane. It turned out to be BMW Sauber’s only win and 1-2 finish, as they pulled out of F1 at the end of the 2009 season.

The current driver’s world championship standings leader is Mark Webber of Red Bull with 93 points as he has kept his place at the head of the Formula One standings after finishing in third place in the Turkish Grand Prix behind the McLaren pair of Jenson Button 88 points and Lewis Hamilton with 84 points.

Webber looked to be headed for this third straight win at Istanbul Park until a collision with Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel which caused him to pit for a new nose cone. Vettel went off and did not finish, meaning he has slipped to fourth in a close title race which is dominated by Red Bull and McLaren after seven rounds.

Hamilton’s victory, his first of the season and first since…

Why? Because he says he would’ve done the exact same thing.

In case you didn’t know, there was some sort of controversy concerning how Michael Schumacher finished in Monaco, the sixth leg of the 2010 F1 season.

For those of you who missed it, Michael Schumacher overtook Fernando Alonso just moments after the Safety Car returned to the pits at the final corner of the final lap of the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher was running seventh then and needed to overtake Fernando Alonso for that final championship point. Unfortunately for Schumi, the stewards ruled the move illegal and instead of a 6^th place finish, Schumacher was slapped with a 20-second penalty.

Alonso though, insists the rules are clear and says he wanted to overtake Lewis Hamilton but his team told him not to do it.

”The team told me over radio that we could not overtake,” Alonso said. ”I wanted to attack Lewis Hamilton, but I was forbidden by the team to do it. The fact that Michael went ahead to pass me did not surprise me.”

Alonso said there was no doubt in his mind that the seven-time world champion would be penalized. ”I was calm and that was later confirmed by the stewards, who put things right,” he wrote in his Ferrari blog.

Alonso’s weekend in Monaco wasn’t as good as he had hoped…

In case you didn’t know, the most grandiose event in Formula One was held last weekend.

Yes, the 2010 F1 season finally visited Monaco and as always, it was a spectacle. Red Bull’s Mark Webber became the first Australian for quite a while to win the Monaco Grand Prix and the race for the championship became even more interesting when it was all over with teammates Webber and Sebastian Vettel tied on top while points leader Jenson Button falling at the fourth spot.

But perhaps what’s more intriguing in Monaco is how Michael Schumacher ALMOST pulled off a fast one in the final lap of the race. You see, the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix ended with the Safety Car on track after Jarno Trulli collided with Karun Chandhok in the final three laps of the race.

The Safety Car returned to the pits on the final lap, prompting Michael Schumacher into thinking that he can dive by Fernando Alonso who was then riding sixth and merely moments from scoring the final championship point of the race.

Schumi dove by Fernando Alonso moments after they had crossed the Safety Car line, taking the sixth spot from the Spaniard. The stewards however, ruled the move illegal, and confirmed that an investigation would be launched.

”I think I’m sixth, I got the message ‘Track Clear’,” Michael Schumacher said in an interview. ”That means the Safety Car is gone, the accident zone was clear, so I thought I could go.”

Mercedes GP boss Ross Brawn, of course, agrees with his driver…

Because after winning the first race of the season in Bahrain, the Spaniard hasn’t really won shit in Asia.

And now that the European leg of the 2010 F1 season is about to kick off in his home country of Spain, Fernando Alonso is looking forward to having a series of strong finishes in the next few races, claiming that this leg is where the race for the title truly begins.

”The Championship always starts in the first race, but it’s true that it’s just a race to confirm the good sensations you’ve had during testing. But it’s true that in Europe it is time to show who is going to fight for the title and who isn’t,” Fernando Alonso said in an interview.

”The first races can be atypical races with changing weather all the time, so now in Europe it’s the moment of truth to show who is going to be in the title fight, and also for the teams to prove they can develop faster than their rivals. It’s the start of a nice fight.”

”Being third in the Championship, very few points away from the leader, I believe is a very good situation.”

”With the potential that we have, with the super team that I have…”

Now we know why Fernando Alonso hated his guts so much.

In case you missed the fourth race of the 2010 F1 season which pretty much concludes the Asian leg of this year’s campaign, McLaren scored a dominant one-two finish to put them in the lead for the constructors’ title.

Thanks to Jenson Button scoring his second win of the season, McLaren Mercedes took the lead from Ferrari in this year’s race for the constructors’ championship. McLaren now has 109 championship points to Ferrari’s 90.

However, the story was Lewis Hamilton, who finished second fastest behind his teammate to give McLaren the one-two finish. How come? Well, he was back to his old antics that estranged former teammate Fernando Alonso a couple of years ago and although Hamilton and Button haven’t banged heads yet, trust me when I say that it’s only a matter of time.

Perhaps the most intriguing stunt Lewis Hamilton pulled was when he and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel went wheel to wheel in Shanghai over the weekend. There’s nothing wrong with that when you do it on the race track but when you do it on the freaking pit lane?!? There’s something terribly wrong with you.

Coming in for new tires, Sebastian Vettel was well on his way to the pit lane when Lewis Hamilton all of a sudden, jumped in front of him to have his new set of tires as well. It didn’t end there though.

As soon as Vettel left his pit box, Hamilton tried to jump in again in front of him, only this time, he caught the right side of Vettel’s car as Hamilton went wheel to wheel with the Red Bull driver, putting everybody’s pit crew in jeopardy.

Refusing to yield to Vettel, Hamilton continued to race side by side…

And that’s not because of some new technology those guys will be introducing next year.

But because at the end of the 2010 F1 season, the sport will have no tire manufacturer to turn to with Bridgestone set to quit at the end of this campaign.

And since Michelin, which was F1’s ”other” tire manufacturer a few years back, is still reluctant to return to the sport, Formula One is scrambling to find a solution before this season is over.

So who’s to blame for this yet another fiasco? Well, the ”powers – that – be” of course.

It was only four years ago when the French manufacturer, Michelin, walked away from the sport after the ”powers – that – be” decided to switch to a single manufacturer, enabling Michelin’s rivals, Bridgestone, to monopolize F1’s tire demands.

Now that Bridgestone is quitting they expect Michelin to just return? Well, at least Michelin is interested in making a return to the sport, provided that they have competition.

”We are interested in it but it must be right, who know what will happen,” a senior Michelin company spokesman said in an interview with Racecar Engineering.

”Certain things have to be done, we must have competition, we do not want to be the only supplier.”

”Also we need to be able to use the the opportunity of competition to…”

Of course he’s saying that.

With his McLaren team still 10 points behind Ferrari for the constructors championship this 2010 F1 season, team boss Martin Whitemarsh refuses to even think that McLaren can’t get past their Italian rivals this year.

So far, McLaren’s campaign will be noted more for their mistakes than their wins. Take for example the debacle they had in Australia where Lewis Hamilton could’ve finished at the podium if it wasn’t for the poor tire strategy call they made.

At the following race in Malaysia, McLaren once again made a huge boo boo when they sent their drivers out late in qualifying, relegating both Hamilton and defending champion Jenson Button, to the back of the starting grid.

Still, thanks to Hamilton and Button still managing to salvage some championship points, McLaren is still second to Ferrari in the race for the constructors championship while their main man, Button, is just four points behind points leader Felipe Massa for the drivers championship.

That’s probably why Whitemarsh remains confident.

”By our own very high standards, we’ve not fully met our very high expectations in the first three races, despite having what we feel is the necessary race pace to compete at the front and despite having won the Australian Grand Prix,” said team boss Whitmarsh.

”That might sound overly self-critical, given that we are…”

Well, let’s just say things hasn’t been as smooth as it was in Bahrain.

After kicking off the 2010 F1 season with a sixth place finish in Bahrain, you can’t blame some fans (including yours truly) for starting to anticipate Michael Schumacher’s return to form in the next races.

Lo and behold, that was just wasn’t the case as far as Michael Schumacher is concerned. In the next race in Australia, Schumacher could only muster a single championship point after only finishing in 10^th place.

He got himself into a first lap incident with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso then that sent him into the pits for repairs, forcing him to spend most of the race in Melbourne trying to get back the positions he lost while in the pitlane.

Then in Malaysia, Michael Schumacher hit rock bottom when his car suffered a broken suspension to take the Mercedes GP driver out of contention from even finishing the race in Sepang. Ouch.

Despite the two consecutive disappointments, Michael Schumacher, the five-time F1 world champion, remains positive. He believes his return is going according to plan and he thinks it’s only a matter of time before he gets his form back.

For what it’s worth, he’s looking forward to have a strong race in the next grand prix in Shanghai, China.

”We looked quite reasonable in Malaysia at the last race and maybe…”