Saturday: Mercedes dominated by Williams, Hamilton cracks under pressure

Nico Rosberg (No. 6) – 5th and 3rd

In his last fast lap, the German had to lift his foot because of the yellow flag caused by his teammate. He states: « Of course, from our point of view, it’s complicated to have both Williams ahead of us, but I must congratulate them, they have been there all weekend and seized their chance today. »

Despite this disappointing result, he remains confident for Sunday: « We have worked hard to achieve the best setup for the race – the balance wasn’t perfect for qualifying, with a bit too much understeer, but I hope it will calm down tomorrow. This track presents some good overtaking opportunities and I think it will be a very interesting race. »

Lewis Hamilton (#44) – 2nd and no time [9th on the grid]

To explain his poor result, the native of Stevenage in Hertfordshire does not make excuses. He states: I just didn’t manage to finish a lap in Q3 today – sometimes you make it and other times you don’t, and today I didn’t do my job. The feeling in the car was good and I think we had the pace.

His first fast lap was canceled for exceeding track limits, and in his last lap, he locked the wheels of his car at turn No. 2. For the race, he will aim as high as possible without raising unrealistic expectations. He explains: « For the victory, it will be very difficult, so I guess it will mainly be about damage limitation; I will do everything I can to put myself in a good position and score good points for the team. Congratulations to Williams; I’m very happy for Felipe and his pole position. »