F1 News
Date: 11/May/2013
Nico Rosberg took his second pole position in as many
attempts by leading an all-Mercedes front row in qualifying for the Spanish F1
Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Rosberg finished the session with a 0.254s advantage over
team-mate Lewis Hamilton on a day when the ‘Silver Arrows’ were the only cars
to break the 1m 21s barrier.
Rosberg said: “It all went perfectly in qualifying. I had a
really good lap and I’m so happy. It’s always a good motivation boost and for
the team - front row, fantastic.
“But of course I have to be a bit cautious because of what
happened in Bahrain. So pole is nice, but to be enjoyed with caution.”
Rosberg plummeted from pole to ninth place in Bahrain, but
is confident there will be no such decline on Sunday.
“In Bahrain the temperatures, the circuit and everything
exposed our small weaknesses in a very extreme way,” he explained.
“So a) we’re in a different track here so naturally it’s
going to be a bit better, and b) we also really tried to understand what went
wrong in Bahrain and have improved things.
“But I’m not going to sit here and say I’m very confident
that I can go for the win tomorrow. No, the target needs to be a little bit
less than that I think - maybe a podium - because there are still so many
unknowns, especially the tyre ‘graining’.”
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel will start from third
on the grid and hopes to reap the benefits of saving fresh tyres for the race.
“Again we took a little bit different approach than the
majority of people - using option [softer] tyres only,” confirmed the Red Bull
star.
“The tyres don’t last so the fresher the tyres are, the
longer they last. Ideally they are new. That’s why we decided to save as many
sets as we can. Whether it works or not we’ll know tomorrow.
“The big challenge will be to look after the tyres and try
to suffer as little ‘graining’ as possible.
“In the winter [testing] here we didn’t really get very far
with the tyres, all of us. The conditions are helping a little bit this
weekend, but still it’s going to be tough.”
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, increasingly linked to Red Bull
in place of Mark Webber next season, will join Vettel on the second row.
Raikkonen starts round five as Vettel’s nearest title rival, 10 points behind
the reigning triple Champion.
Home star Fernando Alonso qualified in fifth place for
Ferrari, while last year’s winner for Williams, Pastor Maldonado, didn’t even
progress past the opening stage of qualifying.
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