FEATURE
M
ercedes chairman Niki Lauda was
gushing with admiration when
speaking to reporters after watching
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg annex the
front row for the Mexican Grand Prix.
Reigning F1 world champion Hamilton was
in a class of his own throughout qualifying, and
delivered a lap a quarter of a second up on the
next best which happened to be Rosberg.
The world championship points leader,
struggling to find a good rhythm and at one
point looked destined for a row two start, until
he pulled a great lap out the bag to ensure he
lines up beside his teammate on the grid for
the race.
Lauda said afterwards, “Lewis was perfect!
Nico was really worrying for his own sake
because he would have started further back.
And if Hamilton wins, the championship goes
further away. But then he got that lap in the
end. It was unbelievable and he is on the front
row.”
The F1 legend explained Rosberg’s
problems, “He could not get the car balance,
it’s very simple. He did not get the right grip
level into the tyres, which happened to his car.
“Lewis was more aggressive going out and
with a little bit more temperature he got the car
going quicker around the circuit. Nico could not
get his tyres into the [right] tyre window but in
the last lap he did,” exclaimed Lauda.
Rosberg acknowledged, “Lewis’ lap was
brilliant, not so much mine. But no, I put it
together when it counted in the end, so I’m
relatively pleased with that, to definitely make
sure I’m on the front row, even though it’s not
pole position of course.”