QUALIFYING REPORT
Hamilton summed up his session, “There
is more grip on the track now, last year we
were sliding around a lot more, this time it felt
more like a race track. I turned up to do the
job and I’ll try and do the same thing I did last
week. I’m looking forward to the race and the
car feels great.”
It was a different story for Rosberg who
could only manage the fourth best time during
FP3 earlier in the morning session, and then
for most of qualifying struggled to hit the sweet
spot and looked destined for a second row start
behind one, if not both, Red Bulls.
But the German delivered a great lap in
his final run in Q3, one of the few drivers to
go quicker with his earlier effort, and with that
assured himself a second row start. He ended
a quarter of a second down on the top time.
Rosberg commented: “Lewis’ lap was
brilliant, not so much mine, but I put it together
when it counted so I’m pleased with that. It
still gives me a great chance for the race. I
took a bit longer this weekend to find the way,
generally with the tyre temperatures on the cold
side. I got there in the end.”
For the record, even if Hamilton won
all three remaining races, Rosberg would
only need two second-place finishes and a
third place to clinch his first Formula 1 world
championship.
As suspected Red Bull kept their powder
dry during free practice, as in qualifying both
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo looked
game to take on the Silver Arrows and in the
race they would fancy their chances of causing
an upset. Verstappen would start from third
with Ricciardo beside him in fourth.