Hamilton had been even more blunt on the podium when he described the race as “boring”. Rosberg separated himself from Hamilton by 7.7 seconds at the end of the race. “We couldn’t just do that for Lewis and not Nico because that wouldn’t be right”.
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He was desperate todo it this year on the home track of his late boyhood hero Ayrton Senna, whose three titles he equalled two races ago. I think the solution is very simple.
Nico Rosberg wins the race in Brazil today.
The 30-year-old Briton knew his best chance of beating pole-sitter Rosberg would be on the short run down to Turn One. It is a pity, for the sake of the championship, the German did not show those qualities earlier.
Todt added that a “moment of attention” will be observed for the Paris victims, but the FIA is yet to officially confirm its plans with a one-minute silence in memory of those who have died in road traffic accidents already scheduled. Hamilton changed his strategy towards the conclusion of the race, but once again, with both drivers were on the same strategy, Hamilton tried as he might to close in with 20 laps to go.
The final Q3 session began with Rosberg out first to clock 1:11.461.
Hamilton reclaimed second place when he overtook the Finn at Turn 15. I have no explanation for you. I killed my tyres and it is a shame because it is such a great track but you can’t get close enough to race. Team Mercedes made it clear in 2014 that they would be a fierce competitor, but no one could have predicted they would take 15 out of the 18 races so far this season.
Hamilton said he would like to have taken a risk and switched strategies but Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said that at the time Hamilton wanted to do that, it would have compromised his race and put his second place at risk.
Hamilton, whose grandfather is Grenadian, looked faster but in the turbulent air behind Rosberg’s vehicle he was unable to get close enough to try to pass his teammate. “Nico has been driving fantastically well”.
Also out went Marcus Ericsson in the second Sauber and Romain Grosjean in his Lotus, leaving the home crowd pleased to see their favourite Massa squeeze through in 10th place for Williams. Beyond that Mercedes are reluctant to split their strategies for fear of upsetting the losing driver. At least Rosberg’s resurgence has raised hopes of a more competitive season in 2016. “Of course everything is relative with what happened back in Paris, but still very happy”.
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“I had the pace advantage over Lewis, so he wasn’t going to come past me”, said Rosberg. Carlos Sainz Jr., who saw his younger Toro Rosso teammate Max Verstappen score points yet again in tenth, started the race with a problem and retired before the completion of the first lap. Hülkenberg, surprisingly, has been second best to his team-mate Sergio Pérez for most of the season.
