Saturday: Mercedes could hardly have dreamed of better
The Mercedes drivers managed to position their cars right behind Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull on the starting grid, with Nico Rosberg ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The German driver is thrilled with his performance, while the Brit admits to having struggled to properly set up his F1 W04 since yesterday.
Nico Rosberg – 8th and 2nd:
« We tried a lot of things during the practice sessions this weekend to find one or two more tenths, and I found good settings with my team, so I’m happy with our work so far. I really wanted to qualify as the ‘best of the rest’ today, so I’m really pleased with this 2nd place and starting from the front row. The race will be tough against Mark tomorrow because he has a faster car and a different strategy, but we will give it our all. For our team, the most important thing is to score as many points as possible to secure second place in the constructors’ championship at the end of the year. »
Lewis Hamilton – 10th and 3rd:
I am thrilled with my 3rd place today because it has been a difficult weekend to set up the car and extract as much performance as possible. The team has done an excellent job to make progress since Friday and I am delighted for everyone to see Nico and me in the top 3 today. It was a good lap even though I may have lost a bit of time in the last corner. Obviously, tomorrow is what counts, and the race will be difficult with the different strategies and tire choices. We hope to get a good start, get rid of the softs early, and then push as much as possible with the mediums.
