Rosberg: “It will be a great battle with Hamilton”

Nico Rosberg took pole position at the Bahrain F1 GP but said he is convinced that the battle with his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, will be close in the race. The two Mercedes drivers monopolized the front row in Sakhir.

“For sure tomorrow it will be small things that will make the difference” declared Rosberg. “Surely whoever is first between the two of us at the first corner will have a small advantage because it is always easier to stay in front rather than chase, so tomorrow the key will be to manage the tires well”.

Rosberg studied the data from Hamilton of Malaysia and said he was convinced he had made progress in understanding the 2014 Pirelli tyres: “It's a big internal battle and we're both constantly pushing ourselves. There are always things I learn from him and things he learns from me."

Rosberg had seemed slower than Hamilton in free practice but in the end he managed to overtake his teammate in qualifying: “I worked well this weekend. I found my way to steadily progress, bypassing some obstacles and understanding the ideal set-up. The challenge this weekend was to run free practice in hot conditions and imagine the ideal set-up to use in qualifying in colder conditions. I always have good memories of this track, I won my GP2 title here and I also took part in my first F1 race. I've always liked it, I like coming back here and it's a circuit that suits me."