Rosberg: “It was a difficult day for the team”

The first was good for Nico but not the second, given that in the afternoon he was "forced" to give up second place to his teammate Hamilton. The German of Mercedes, who had been the fastest with the hard compound in Free Practice 1 in the morning, was unable to find the same feeling with the medium tyres, thus ending the day in third place, behind the Ferrari di Raikkonen. The German suffered a loss of grip in the final stint during the qualifying simulation, and in the long runs he didn't fare much better.

“I had a good session in the morning but in the afternoon I wasn't able to do the same with the medium tyres, so I'll have to understand what didn't work,” he commented Rosberg at the end of free practice on Friday.

“In general it was a difficult day for the team who had to deal with reliability problems on Lewis' car, which meant he lost almost the entire first session. What can I say about the track conditions, they are truly absurd out there: it's so hot you can't believe it. Adapting to similar temperatures, both for us and for the single-seaters, represents a great challenge. Furthermore, the Ferrari they seem to be in great shape again, even on this track. It promises to be an interesting weekend...", concluded the German from Mercedes.