Rosberg: « A great weekend for us »
Winner of the first race of the season, Nico Rosberg defied all odds to triumph against a struggling Lewis Hamilton by the end of the first lap.
It was Mark Webber who was designated by the FIA to interview the drivers on the podium of the Australian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg was obviously delighted with his performance: « It was a great weekend for us. (…) The car was fantastic. It’s only the beginning, but it’s perfect to start like this. We must remain vigilant and watch out for the Reds behind us » warned the first winner of the season.
6th at the end of the first lap, then even 7th behind Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton had to fight hard to return to second place: « It was a great race. I loved coming back from behind, but it was very complicated. I didn’t have the same tires to climb back up, so I faced major difficulties. But I think it could have been even more difficult. I take it as a bonus to have come back from seventh place. » The Englishman expressed his relief to see Fernando Alonso emerge unharmed from his rollover: « I’m happy that no one was hurt in Alonso’s accident. »
Sebastian Vettel has to settle for the third step of the podium despite leading on the first lap. The Scuderia driver likely lost the race by not switching to medium tires during the race suspension: « I was hoping to win this race. My start was great. I think I was in a good rhythm, but then that red flag came. We didn’t expect the Mercedes to do what they did on medium tires. But I’m still happy with this third place. However, we will need to be more aggressive in the upcoming races. »
