Rosberg: “Hamilton slowed me down, he should have been punished”

Mercedes is halfway satisfied after qualifying for the European GP: given the very small gaps, the impression is that of a wasted opportunity in Valencia.

Nico Rosberg finished in sixth place, 537 thousandths behind poleman Vettel, but the German explains that he could have set a much better time: “We had great potential in qualifying, but unfortunately I can't be satisfied with today's result”, Rosberg said. “We were fast in all the heats, but when I was about to start my last lap, Lewis Hamilton slowed me down at the last corner. I had to start my fast lap behind him, which made it impossible to improve my time. We know that the last sector is crucial here and there is a rule in place to stop behavior like what happened, so it's frustrating for me to be sixth. However, it will be an interesting race from a strategy point of view, and I hope there will be an opportunity to recover some positions.", closed the winner of the Chinese GP.

Michael Schumacher is certainly no happier, given that he will start 12th, but the former Ferrari driver takes it philosophically. “What a tight qualifying session!”, commented Schumi. “Naturally, I'm not particularly happy about not having passed Q2, but due to a series of circumstances the first lap didn't go well, I had to stop the second lap because the tires were no longer in good condition and after that I was too conservative in the second moto and that cost us because the times were so close today. On the other hand, my starting position opens up strategic possibilities for tomorrow. I have new sets of tires available and this is the positive aspect of my situation. We will certainly get the best from them.", finished German.

Lorena Bianchi