GreenBkk.com Formula 1 | Nico Rosberg Q&A: I’m quick enough to improve in the race

Nico Rosberg Q&A: I’m quick enough to improve in the race

Monaco is one of the most challenging stops on the Formula One calendar and on Saturday it was Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Sauber’s Sergio Perez who paid the price for the circuit’s demands. In the case of Rosberg, who crashed in final practice, only the car suffered and so, with some swift work from the Mercedes mechanics, the young German was able to take part in qualifying. In fact, the team carried out such a magnificent job on his car that had the red flags not been unfurled after Perez crashed in the exact same spot in Q3, Rosberg believes he could have been riding much higher than P8 on the grid…

Q: Nico, you crashed this morning at the same spot that Sergio Perez crashed at during qualifying. How dangerous is that corner?

Nico Rosberg: The corner is indeed very dangerous, probably the most dangerous spot of the whole track. There is a huge bump and you jump full throttle into the braking zone and that holds quite a few risks. But in the end it was always like that. And I have to say that in my case it was my mistake, as I pushed too early on cold tyres. In the case of Sergio it seems that the track in his situation was probably a bit dangerous.

Q: How lucky was Perez that they changed some of the barriers after your crash?

NR: I have no information about this but should it be true then the marshals did a great job. I didn’t see his accident - it’s probably better that way. I think overall I was very fortunate to miss the barrier and from what we have seen today this spot is prone to accidents, so we probably should reconsider it. We could move the barrier back some 50-odd metres. I am sure the FIA will look into the matter very carefully.

Q: In the race you have to pass that corner every single lap. Will you be able to get your crash out of your head?

NR: It was already a non-issue in qualifying, although I will admit that over the first one or two laps it did cause a slightly faster heartbeat. But I have to say that it was a fantastic job from the team to get my car ready for qualifying, because it didn’t look so good after the shunt. There was no annoyance that I’d damaged the car. It was all about rolling up the sleeves and getting it fixed again. They really managed to perform a miracle in just one and a half hours. And it went very well in qualifying, before the red flag. It really caught me on the wrong foot. The same happened to Lewis Hamilton.

Q: So how disappointing is your grid position?

NR: It’s pretty frustrating indeed. After the incredible work the team carried out to fix the car and our good pace, my guess is that more could have been possible without the red flag. When I went out again after the restart the tyres simply didn’t get to the right temperature.

Q: What do you guess would have been possible?

NR: We would definitely have been better than P8. But realistically I also have to admit that the guys at the very front were too fast today.

Q: What can you do in the race?

NR: I would say that in terms of pure speed I am definitely faster than some of those ahead of me, so I would say that there is still something possible for me in the race.

Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)