SUZUKA, JAPAN // It was completely understandable why Nico Rosberg was in no mood for celebration despite reaching the milestone of a 30th pole position in Formula One on Saturday.
The German topped the times in qualifying for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix with a lap time of 1 minute, 30.647 seconds, but being quick at Suzuka is not a new thing for the Mercedes-GP driver.
He started on pole the previous two years at the track but failed to convert either of those into wins, finishing runner-up to teammate Lewis Hamilton on both occasions.
With Hamilton lining up alongside him on the front row after being only 0.013 seconds slower, it would be hard for Rosberg to avoid thinking of the past.
In 2014 he was overtaken on track by Hamilton on the start-finish straight mid-race in wet conditions, while he was passed at the start last year by the triple world champion.
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So, Rosberg is well aware that there are no guarantees to starting from the front as he seeks to extend his 23-point lead over Hamilton in the drivers’ championship, with only four races remaining after Japan.
“For sure the start is going to be an important one definitely tomorrow,” Rosberg said in Saturday’s post-qualifying news conference.
“We’ve seen this weekend it’s not been too easy because it’s downhill and the grip somehow has been lower than usual, which will be a challenge.
“We also need to get the tyre life to do long enough stints and everything to get the strategy to work.”
Fortune favoured Rosberg last weekend as he escaped being hit at the first corner in Malaysia by the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel to fight back from last place to finish third, while Hamilton, who had dominated the race ended up with no points after his engine failed.
Rosberg had been on track to lose his lead in the standings had Hamilton won, but instead he is now in a position to really take a firm grip on the championship if he is triumphant for a ninth time this season today.
If he prevails in the 53-lap race his lead will be a minimum of 30 points and he would be in a position where he could afford to finish second behind Hamilton in the remaining four races and still leave the final race of the season, the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 27, as the champion.
But, to do that he must beat Hamilton at Suzuka, and the Briton was pretty stoic about being beaten into second place, acknowledging that the real fight is Sunday.
“History has shown you don’t have to be on pole to get the win but Nico has done a great job all weekend,” he said.
Hamilton has reason to be confident as he has more often than not come out on top in the past against Rosberg in their inter-team fights, and that is why he has won the past two championships for Mercedes and Rosberg has not.
But Rosberg seems to be stronger mentally than the previous two years, having bounced back from seeing a 43-point lead turned into a 19-point deficit to Hamilton in six races mid-season, and his performance in Singapore last month, where he out-performed Hamilton on merit in both qualifying and the race, was one of the best in his career.
He has had the edge on Hamilton all of this weekend as well so far, being fastest in all three practice sessions and then qualifying.
But that will be but a crumb of consolation to him if he is beaten by Hamilton, and his focus continues to be solely on following in the footsteps of his father Keke, the 1982 champion, and securing the title.
Kimi Raikkonen continued his renaissance to be third for Ferrari, edging out teammate Vettel, who will start from seventh due to a three-place grid penalty for his collision with Rosberg last weekend, moving the Red Bull Racing cars of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, and the Force India of Sergio Perez all up one place.
There was also delight for Haas F1 who have both their drivers in the top 10 for the first time since their debut in the sport at the start of the season, after Romain Grosjean was eighth and Esteban Gutierrez 10th.
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