- US GP - FP2
Rosberg: I've got extra time 'in my pocket'
Nico Rosberg says he knows what he needs to do to take pole position for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday after finishing just 0.003s behind title rival Lewis Hamilton in FP2.
Hamilton was three tenths clear of his Mercedes team-mate in FP1 but Rosberg closed the gap down in the afternoon session, with just a fraction separating the pair's crucial qualifying simulation runs. Rosberg has eight pole positions to Hamilton's seven so far this year and he is confident he can find the time necessary to take another in Austin.
"I'm not going to say that, but I'm going to pull it out tomorrow," Rosberg said when asked where the on the circuit the extra time could be found. "It's hidden in my pocket at the moment. I'm very optimistic for the weekend. It's going to be a very good battle between he and I and I'm confident."
Hamilton's FP2 ended prematurely when he returned to the garage, where his car was stripped down, something Rosberg thinks demonstrates Mercedes still has reasons to fear reliability issues in the final three races.
"In the car I never think about such things. I have full confidence in the team and that my car is going to get to the end, so I'm not worried about that. But of course now I get outside the car it's not ideal, it shows our car is still not 100%."
Rosberg admits he experienced a bizarre moment inside the cockpit in the early stages of FP2 which prompted a concerned message to Mercedes asking whether it was safe to continue.
When asked if there were any problems in FP2, Rosberg said: "Yeah, that I lifted my leg and hit my clutch paddle! Because I had an itch on my foot. Can you imagine, all the things that can happen? It turned into a bit of an issue so I need to make sure I don't lift my foot when I get an itch."
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