- German GP - Race
Rosberg feared late safety car
Nico Rosberg admits he feared his huge lead would be wiped out in the closing stages of the German Grand Prix by a safety car period after Adrian Sutil's late spin on the final corner left him prone on the track.
After leading into Turn 1 the race was Rosberg's to lose, but on lap 49 it looked like a safety car was about to shake-up proceedings when Sutil's car came to a stop at the start of the pit straight. In the end Charlie Whiting was happy for marshals to run across the track and remove Sutil's stricken car to one side of the circuit, which Rosberg says he did not think would be the outcome.
"Yes, I definitely got a bit worried when I saw Sutil's car out there because I was sure there was going to be a safety car. That would have made it a lot more difficult at the end."
Williams had taken the fight to Mercedes once again in qualifying but did not have the race pace to sustain a challenge to Rosberg over 67 laps, something the championship leader was not expecting.
"Yeah, definitely I was a bit surprised [by their lack of pace]. They were close in qualifying so I didn't expect to have such a big advantage in the race. I will be celebrating a little bit for sure! I look forward to the next race in Hungary with the car that we have at the moment. I'm very, very grateful to Mercedes for the car that we have."
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