ABU DHABI // “At the moment I’m just quicker.”
Nico Rosberg could not help but crack a little smile as he said those words after taking pole position for today’s Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The sentence was for the benefit of the attending media, but also for the man sat just a few inches to his right at Yas Marina Circuit, Lewis Hamilton.
The downcast look on the face of the world champion told the story. This setback should not matter to him, really. He has already won his third drivers’ title and his place among the greats in the history of Formula One is secured.
The pity, for fans of tight championship races, is that this form of Rosberg’s did not show up earlier in the season.
Hamilton took pole in 11 of the first 12 races, and won 10 of the first 16 races of the campaign, and that is where he secured the championship.
There were glimpses of this form from Rosberg in the way he won in Spain and Austria, in the first half of the season, but they were occasional shows of skill rather than something more consistent.
Since Japan, in September, Rosberg has had a pace advantage in qualifying, and with better luck he could have won the past four races rather than only the most recent two.
Rosberg denied there was anything dramatic in his rise from Mercedes sidekick to leading-man, at least for the moment, and believes he had been closer to Hamilton than the results indicated.
“It’s not a revival, I haven’t reinvented anything,” he said. “It’s just progress and that’s it.
“Before it was always very, very close but Lewis had that one-10th edge and at the moment it’s me that has the one-10th edge.
“Today a bit more, but it was very close lately in the last two races.”
With today’s race concluding the 2015 season, Rosberg could be forgiven for being motivated to defeat Hamilton – and everyone else – and carry a three-race winning streak, as well as soaring confidence, into 2016.
Also, he said, he wants to give his mechanics a reason to celebrate tonight at one of the many parties in Abu Dhabi.
“Primarily, I would like to win the race because it’s a great feeling to win and it would also give my whole crew and the team a great end to the season and a good reason to party,” he added.
“That would be awesome, to all have a good time together, so that’s primarily on my mind.”
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But, an annoying trend is beginning to become painful habit: the Briton continues to be beaten by Rosberg, and he does not like it. Not one bit.
The German won his sixth successive pole position yesterday and he will line up on the grid at 5pm having won the past two races, in Mexico and Brazil.
Hamilton was poised to reaffirm his dominance yesterday when a lap of one minute, 40.614 seconds lifted him to the top of the time sheets in the final seconds of qualifying.
His Mercedes-GP teammate was, however, still out on track and kept his composure to beat Hamilton’s time with a lap of 1:40.237. The effort secured the 22nd pole of Rosberg’s career.
Hamilton had hinted in Brazil two weeks ago that he had not been happy with the handling of his Mercedes, and he repeated the complaint yesterday, though he acknowledged that Rosberg had done the better job.
“For a while I’m just struggling on the edge of the car,” Hamilton, 30, said. “It was a lot more comfortable in the beginning of the year for me.
“I don’t know really. I’ve generally struggled all weekend, but Nico did such a good job today, in particular in Q3.”
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But, an annoying trend is beginning to become painful habit: the Briton continues to be beaten by Rosberg, and he does not like it. Not one bit.
The German won his sixth successive pole position yesterday and he will line up on the grid at 5pm having won the past two races, in Mexico and Brazil.
Hamilton was poised to reaffirm his dominance yesterday when a lap of one minute, 40.614 seconds lifted him to the top of the time sheets in the final seconds of qualifying.
His Mercedes-GP teammate was, however, still out on track and kept his composure to beat Hamilton’s time with a lap of 1:40.237. The effort secured the 22nd pole of Rosberg’s career.
Hamilton had hinted in Brazil two weeks ago that he had not been happy with the handling of his Mercedes, and he repeated the complaint yesterday, though he acknowledged that Rosberg had done the better job.
“For a while I’m just struggling on the edge of the car,” Hamilton, 30, said. “It was a lot more comfortable in the beginning of the year for me.
“I don’t know really. I’ve generally struggled all weekend, but Nico did such a good job today, in particular in Q3.”
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