This week, Nico Rosberg gave an exclusive interview to CANAL+, broadcasted this Wednesday. You can find the script below.
There are five GPs remaining before the end of the season, how do you feel ?
I’m feeling all right. I do not have enough points, it’s not perfect but it has been a good season. Lewis has done better than me this season, so it’s not good (for me) but I’m still fighting, there are still five races to go. Of course, there is a large gap between us, I need to be lucky, but we’ve seen that in sport, anything can happen. I want to win races, that’s the first thing, the one that matters, and then I can think of the title.
During five of the last six GPs, you’ve lost positions during the start, why is this ?
The rules have changed. Now, we have many more things to do by ourselves before the start, and it has been difficult for our team to adapt. Before, everything was perfect. Now, it’s more difficult, for them (the engineers) to adjust the car before starting, and for me to start right once I’m on the grid.
After Suzuka’s start, some experts, former drivers, noticed your lack of aggression. How do you respond ?
I do agree with that. I left a little too much space, but it’s hard to judge in the car how much space there is, how much width there is between both cars, it’s not obvious. Watching it later, I saw that I left too much space in the first turn. In the second one, I tried to tighten but I could not do it because of understeer, but that was another problem.
Since Spa 2014, as you’ve been told, you’re not allowed to make any more mistakes. Do you think about this during races?
I’ve learned things from Spa 2014, for sure, but that was an (isolated) event, finally it didn’t disrupt things. Now, I’m fighting with Lewis, we know the rules and we stick to them, they are clear and that’s it.
Are they allies that can overtake Lewis and help you win the championship?
There are still the Ferraris, it’s important to me that both finish between us.
In a few days, the Russian GP will take place. What memories do you have from last year ?
Last year, I messed up the start. I braked a little too late, really too late, it ruined my race. But after, I recovered really well, almost without pit-stop. With only one set of tyres, to do the whole race and finish second was great, but the start was bad.
What about revenge this year?
No revenge, I don’t think about last year. I want to win, I’m trying to, and that’s it.