Sunday: The Sun has set on Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – 8th

I had a good start today and was in a good position until my first pit stop. Unfortunately, we had that incident when I left the pit box, which cost me a better position. We are going to analyze this internally with the team to understand what happened, but it was certain that we were going to get a penalty. After that, we went for a three-stop strategy and it worked quite well for us. I was able to make some good overtakes, although I wasn’t happy with what happened with Perez given that the rules are clear: you can defend once and close the door but not change sides a second time. It wasn’t easy trying to overtake the Sauber at the end and being satisfied with eighth place given our potential. At least we collected some points.

Lewis Hamilton – retirement

« I had a really good start this afternoon, better than the two Red Bulls for the first time this year, definitely. Mark was doing well, and so was I, and I sandwiched Sebastian with Romain. Seb’s front wing touched my right rear tire and it just punctured the tire. It wasn’t his fault at all, it’s just an incident that shouldn’t have happened today. I feel bad for the team – the guys here and at the factory – because they’ve done a superb job and we just weren’t rewarded for it. As for the last four races, I’m just going to go there, enjoy them and score as many points as possible for the team. I still believe that second place in the Constructors’ Championship is within our reach if luck turns in our favor and that’s what we’re aiming for. »