Rosberg delighted after ‘fantastic’ Chinese GP weekend

2016 Chinese Grand Prix

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Nico Rosberg has described his Chinese Grand Prix weekend as ‘fantastic’ after securing his third win of the season and sixth consecutive victory.

Rosberg did not lead every lap after being passed by Daniel Ricciardo at the start, but took the lead on lap four after the Red Bull suffered a puncture and cruised to win by over half a minute.

“It’s been a fantastic few days for me here in China,” says Rosberg.

“Racing wise, it was an almost perfect weekend. Only the start could have been better – but luckily I was able to pass Daniel later on the straight and from then on I could build up a gap. I’ve never had a better balance in my car than I had today. It was really perfect, so a big thanks to everyone who helped me achieve that.”

With Lewis Hamilton only able to recover to seventh, Rosberg now enjoys a healthy 39 point lead in the driver’s championship over his team mate.

“After three races I can be really pleased about how my season has gone so far,” says Rosberg.

“But it’s a very long year ahead and there’s a lot of points still on the table, so I’m not losing my focus. Now I look forward to Russia, where I started my good run of qualifying results last year. Hopefully I can get on a nice run like that again.”

2016 Chinese Grand Prix

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    Will Wood
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    19 comments on “Rosberg delighted after ‘fantastic’ Chinese GP weekend”

    1. It seems so odd that there’s already another Russian Grand Prix after what is literally a few months.

      I definitely think Rosberg has found form and confidence this year, and will fully challenge for the championship!

      1. ”It seems so odd that there’s already another Russian Grand Prix after what is literally a few months.” – Yes, it seems odd as the previous Russian GP occurred only a little over six months ago, but due to the date change, the next edition of that race will be held only less than seven months after the previous one. The same can be said about the Malaysian GP as well.

      2. @strontium Just like China in 2009?

        1. @DavidNotCoulthard Yes, the Chinese GP was one of the late season races from 2004 to 2008, so the 2009 race was held only six months after the 2008 race.

    2. 6 wins in a row is a pretty elusive feat. Only Vettel, Schumacher, Ascari and now Rosberg have achieved this. Tbh, I don’t rate him anywhere near the other three, but that is nevertheless an enormously impressive feat. I do however rate him higher than a lot of drivers who have won WDC’s before.

      1. And consider fact, that he is sitting in the same car as Hamilton. Who is (even I’m not a fan of him) maybe on the same level as those mentioned above… Pretty nice feat!

      2. ‘higher than a lot of drivers who have won WDC’s before’

        Who all do you mean? :p

        1. @sravan-pe Maybe, just maybe, His dad? JV? Damon Hill?

            1. Indeed. He is probably now the greatest non WDC ever.

      3. I think in terms of race craft, Rosberg is not as good as those world champs. He is not good at overtaking. He never win if starts lower than 3rd.

    3. Not sure if this holds any bearing to what is happening but this year I think they swapped engineers or something between the two Merc drivers and since then Rosberg now has the best balance ever in his car. I remember last year Hamilton always praised the team for the balance of his car

      1. Last two races Hamilton could only praise Bottas or some Sauber for the ‘balance’ of his car. And I very much doubt engineers are swapped just like that.

        I hope luck balances out and we have a bit better fight, I absolutely don’t care if it is ROS of HAM winning the title, but if this trend of cruising unchallenged continues it is going to be an awfully bland way of winning.

          1. Thanks for the source. Still, the mechanics not the engineers (which keep usually a much more personal attachment to the driver). I obviously don’t know a lot about setting up a race car, but I would expect the balance (in other words the setup) is mostly dictated from the driver based on his feeling and telemetry which is interpreted by the engineer. The mechanics then would implement the setup. That should not influence much the final balance unless one of them is actually not following the instructions.

      2. Correct, the race attending team members have been shuffled around between Hamilton and Rosberg’s side of the garage. Quite fun as you mention it, because Rosberg has in last couple of post race interviews exclaimed that he has never before had such a well balanced car.

    4. Hugely impressive form, no question about it. Tho life has been a lot easier this year after Hamilton’s own problems.

      He’s doing what it needs to be done, that’s for sure, and someone up there is opening the road ahead too! everyone went backwards at the start today, except for Ricciardo that took the lead, but even if he was always going to be overtaken, the Gods of Racing took him out of the way with a puncture!

    5. Easy for him to say. He got the job done on saturday and did not mess up sunday. Even on slower tire he held pace with Riciardo and just got DRS….

      And from then on almost didnt see him.

    6. I wound’t complain if Nico won this year’s championship.
      He may have come up short in last 2 years but he’s absolutely one of the better drivers of this grid.

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