• Indian Grand Prix

Rosberg wants to give Red Bull 'a massive challenge'

ESPN Staff
October 27, 2013 « Grosjean 'wouldn't have bet a peanut' on scoring a podium | Lotus disappointed with Kimi after Grosjean battle »
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Nico Rosberg says Mercedes hopes to be able to give Red Bull "a massive challenge" in 2014.

Having looked like title contenders earlier in the season, Mercedes has fallen away in the second half of the year as Red Bull has won every race since the summer break. However, with the focus on 2014, Rosberg praised Sebastian Vettel for winning his fourth world championship before firing a little warning.

"He's done an amazing job this year and deserves to be world champion," Rosberg said. "We're going to give it our all over the winter to be a massive challenge next year."

Reflecting on his race in India, Rosberg said second place was as good as the team could have hoped for and praised the strategic calls from Mercedes.

"I'm pleased. The start was a bit difficult, dropping behind [Felipe] Massa who was definitely a lot slower. I gave it a go at him on one lap but I couldn't make it happen and he passed me back on the exit. Then the team did a fantastic strategy so I managed to get past him like that. Second place - I'm pleased with that. The car was working well today. It was important for us to have a normal weekend with a lot of points. We're giving Ferrari a run for their money in the constructors and that's the aim for us now."

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