- Jerez Test - Day Three
Rosberg: Ferrari pace 'an eye-opener' for Mercedes
Nico Rosberg says Mercedes has been surprised by the pace of Ferrari in the opening days of the Jerez test.
Ferrari-powered cars have topped all three days of testing so far in Jerez, with Sauber's Felipe Nasr going quickest on Tuesday. Rosberg clocked the most laps of anybody on his second day behind the wheel but he says the early runs from Ferrari have caught the attention of everyone in the garage.
"The general feeling is a feeling that we've come a long way as a team, we're a strong team," Rosberg said when asked about his early impressions. "We're keeping an eye on the opposition and especially Ferrari has been an eye-opener for us in the last couple of days. But still, we're confident we can start the season well and in terms of development be strong."
Rosberg clocked up 151 laps on Tuesday to add to the 157 he completed on the opening day, something the German says highlights Mercedes' focus on reliability over performance at this stage following several key retirements in 2014.
"Our goals here are to do mileage, because last year our weakness was reliability so we have a big focus on that and to have a really reliable car this year because it cost us points and things like that last year. That's been the goal because it's important to see the problems now when you still have time before Melbourne. The problems you see in Barcelona, there's a shorter time to Melbourne so it's more difficult to solve them. Anything you find here is going to be easy to solve, or much easier.
His day was not all plain sailing, with a stoppage on track after lunch caused by an engine shutdown, though Rosberg thinks Mercedes are learning all the time.
"We did find some weaknesses on the car already but they are going to be easy to fix, so we're on the right track."
After testing, Rosberg revealed to his Twitter followers how a Formula One driver rewards himself after a long day testing.
a well deserved chocolate pudding. wohl verdienter Schokoladen-Pudding!! #yum
#testing #Jerez @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/TGUOy4W5jD
— Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) February 3, 2015© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
