• Chinese Grand Prix - Qualifying

Final corner mistake cost Rosberg

ESPN Staff
April 13, 2013 « Raikkonen says gap to pole is still too big | Alonso encouraged by race pace »
Nico Rosberg thinks he lost a crucial tenth in the final corner © Sutton Images
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Nico Rosberg reckons his sideways exit from the final corner of his flying lap cost him two places on the grid and a possible all-Mercedes front row at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Rosberg will start from fourth on the grid after clocking a time just under 0.4s off team-mate Lewis Hamilton and 0.1s slower than Kimi Raikkonen in second. He said he was put on the back foot by a hydraulic issue in final practice that prevented him from running the soft tyre on Saturday morning, but admitted it was his mistake in the final corner that cost him positions.

"[The hydraulic problem] affected me a little bit because it didn't allow me to practice for qualifying this morning and time to optimise the settings," he said. "I was always running behind a little bit through qualifying, but then again qualifying went okay and I was really progressing well through qualifying. I had a small error in the last corner on the last lap and that possibly cost me two positions, but it's okay to be fourth place."

Rosberg said his car set-up is tailored towards the race and he is hoping that pays off on Sunday.

"The whole weekend I've been thinking about the race because it's going to be hotter tomorrow and that might catch a few people out," he added. "From that point of view, I'm quite confident for tomorrow and it's a decent grid position. I'm sure it's possible to go forwards from fourth, but how far I can go I don't know yet."

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