Mercedes: Rosberg is pleased, Hamilton puts things into perspective
Nico Rosberg finds momentum at the end of the season: the German secured his fifth consecutive pole this Saturday. He will of course want to convert his performance into a victory. Despite his second place, Lewis Hamilton did not seem extremely disappointed.
Even though Lewis Hamilton has already won the trophy for the best poleman of this season, it is indeed Nico Rosberg who is the man of the fast laps at the end of the year. After once again outperforming his teammate, Nico Rosberg did not hide his determination: “I just take the races one by one. I’m here, and I want to win.” And he continued: “Everything didn’t go as planned in Q2, but I was able to do some good laps in Q3,” he stated after the session.
In order to progress in qualifications, the German obviously hasn’t shied away from hard work lately: « I don’t know, I don’t have any specific explanations. I had to work in this area and I did, that’s all. »
Lewis Hamilton was only 78 thousandths behind and will, of course, be the main threat in the race. Could he have found that tenth of a second if the stakes had been much higher?
Whether he was telling the truth or trying to downplay Nico Rosberg’s performance, the Englishman, in any case, showed a slight lack of motivation to the press: « I’ve finished my main job this year: winning the title. I had a good day today, I’m happy with the balance of my car and very satisfied with the work done with my engineers. My fast laps were also good, especially in Q1 and Q2. Unfortunately, I’m not missing much in Q3. (…) I’ve secured the most poles this year and the championship. Don’t try to analyze too deeply ».
