- British GP - Qualifying
Rosberg thought qualifying gamble would fail
Nico Rosberg did not believe the gamble to complete his final flying lap which earnt him pole position on a drying track at Silverstone would pay off.
Rosberg just made it across the line as time expired to start his final lap and, though Lewis Hamilton abandoned his late run, Rosberg stayed out and gained enough time in the final sector to jump into first. Hamilton's decision to abandon his own run came from his belief there was no more time to be found on the drack, which was wet in some places and dry in others, and Rosberg admits he also had his reservations.
"Definitely it was a crazy qualifying - just changing all the time and that makes it difficult," Rosberg said. "In the end of last qualifying [Q3] also, on the first lap with the soft [medium] tyres it started to rain quite a lot on the last three corners, and then lost a lot of time there. Then everywhere else it was quite wet also on the in lap so I was sure, I told the guys already 'that's it'.
"Then I was sitting in the box and we just came to a general conclusion, might as well go out and have a look at the track because if you don't have a look there's no chance, if you have a look there's a tiny chance. So at least go out and have a look. It seemed like we should give it go, even then I didn't really believe that the track would be any better."
"I knew that I'd lost four seconds on the previous lap so even if I was slower than that lap I would still have chance of going a lot quicker in those last three corners if it was half way as dry and that's the way it turned out. I made the time because it was a lot dryer in the last three corners."
Rosberg also says he very nearly did not make it across the line in time to start his flying lap.
"It worked out perfectly. Even I crossed the line in Lewis' gearbox … I had to be as fast as possible to do that last lap, as I crossed the line it went red instantly, it was a very, very close call. All in all it was a very good team effort…It's fantastic to have such a qualifying where everything goes well in the end."
Despite Hamilton's decision demoting him to sixth on the grid, Rosberg does not want to rule out his title rival from a challenge on Sunday.
"Of course with regards to the championship its good for me that Lewis is down in sixth. It will take him some time to fight through although I expect him to come through quite quickly, and then most likely we will be fighting each other again. We seem to be very quickly, this track really suits the car, more so than Austria. Starting from Austria is the best possible place and I'm very confident for the race."
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