F1: Rosberg Frustrated With Fifth In Bahrain

Formula 1

F1: Rosberg Frustrated With Fifth In Bahrain

Nico Rosberg led final practice but slipped to fifth in qualifying at Bahrain International Circuit...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted April 21, 2012 Manama (BHR)

Nico Rosberg admits that he is frustrated to be starting only fifth in Bahrain after being on pole in China, but stressed that Mercedes has been working more toward the race.

“I’m not really happy. I would prefer to be first,” said Rosberg after Bahrain qualifying. “But that’s the way it is, and generally we’ve been working more to the race. There are still really good chances for tomorrow, even from where we are. We’re looking much better than we have been, especially in these conditions here, which are really, really hot and very difficult.

“It’s nice to think that now with fifth place we’re not happy, but we’ve been working well towards the race here. I’m quite happy about tomorrow; I think I can do well and move up. I saved one set of tires, unlike many others, so that should help.

“Pole position has been changing all the time now, plus the race winner has been changing all the time, which makes it really interesting.”

Rosberg stressed that the race would be all about tires.

“It’s just tire management, driving carefully," said the German. "It’s going to be a good challenge with the tires. They overheat massively, so it’s going to be a very interesting race.

“Even in qualifying from one corner to the next, they can overheat quickly.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.