Sunday: Rosberg and Schumacher make the silver arrows shine
After a great battle in the first round, the two Mercedes GP drivers managed to stabilize their positions. Nico Rosberg got the better of Michael Schumacher. The young German finished 6th in the race just ahead of his illustrious elder. Both men, along with Ross Brawn, believe that this was the best they could do today and are eagerly looking forward to heading to Interlagos to perform at least as well.
Nico Rosberg – 6th
This was an interesting race for me today. The start didn’t work out well because I tried to overtake Felipe (Massa) and ended up having no space. Michael managed to overtake me, and we had a good fight afterwards and I eventually regained my position. From there, I successfully managed my tires. I stayed out a bit longer before my second stop because I still had grip in the tires and it was better to stay on track with the softs. With the hard tires, I experienced understeer and therefore couldn’t overtake Felipe at the end. The guys once again did a great job during the stops, which helped us achieve a good result today. I’m looking forward to Brazil and hope we can achieve another good result.
Michael Schumacher – 7th
« It was a good race today, and we scored some good points, I must say. Given that we couldn’t find a perfect balance yesterday, we made the most of our situation today. But then I lost some parts of the car, which affected the balance, and in the end, I had a slow puncture, which is why I stopped in turn 2. The tires degraded quickly during the first stint, but that was because of our tire strategy yesterday, as we wanted to keep a new set of soft tires for the race. So, I had already well-used tires at the start. We now need to study the data and ensure we are well-prepared for the last race of the season, where I hope to finish as high as possible. »
Ross Brawn – Director of the Mercedes GP team
« It was a very lively first round between our two drivers today, and it was very entertaining. We often repeat that they are free to fight as long as they remain fair, and it’s great to see that today. Nico had a better pace this evening, his lap times were encouraging. Our performance today reminds us of the little extra we need to be truly competitive, but it is within our reach. Nico and Michael had a great race, and with good pit stops and a good strategy, we achieved the best possible result with what we had. »
