SAO PAULO // Nico Rosberg’s domination of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton this weekend continued as he grabbed his 10th pole position of the season.
Fastest in all three practice sessions ahead of today’s Brazilian Grand Prix, Rosberg followed up by topping the time sheet at the end of each of the three qualifying runs.
The crucial one was at the death and, seconds after he had been overhauled by Hamilton, the German took pole – and with it the trophy for most in a year – by just 0.033 seconds.
In terms of responding to Hamilton’s run of five successive wins that have opened up a 24-point gap between the duo, Rosberg so far could not have produced a more perfect performance.
The Interlagos circuit has never sat well with Hamilton and he has only claimed one podium – a third place – in seven previous attempts around one of Formula One’s most famous venues.
For a few seconds, there was a glimmer of hope for Hamilton that he had stolen a pole from under Rosberg’s nose as, after his final hot lap, he was on top by a 10th of a second. Rosberg, though, had other ideas.
Rosberg’s problem this season is that from the nine occasions he has been on pole he has only won two races. Appreciating the circumstances, Rosberg said: “This will be a perfect job only if it works out tomorrow.
“So far it’s going well, but I need to make it happen in the race.”
Asked whether the pressure was different now that he is the hunter rather than hunted, Rosberg said: “It’s pretty similar. The adrenalin is there, the tension, the excitement, they have not changed that much. I’m trying to push myself to go for it, to be optimistic, to learn from Austin [where he finished second after taking pole].”
As far as Hamilton is concerned, knowing he is in the box seat when it comes to the title, he said: “Qualifying was great fun. Nico did a great lap. It was great to keep going out and fighting, the gap should always be that close. So it was really exciting and I hope people enjoyed it.
“Tomorrow should also be exciting with the pit stops and weather, but I’m going to work as hard as I can for the win.”
In front of his home fans Felipe Massa kept the Mercedes duo honest and will start third.
“It’s very emotional to be here, here in Brazil, to have a competitive car and to start in the top three,” Massa said.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get everything out of the car [on the final lap] because I had traffic and car problems, so I couldn’t improve, whereas other people were improving a little bit.
“I didn’t have enough to beat them [Mercedes] perhaps, but it would have been very close. I can only hope this is the start of something this weekend.”
Massa will have teammate Valtteri Bottas alongside him on the second row, with the Williams duo followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button and Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel fifth and sixth respectively. Kevin Magnussen was seventh quickest, with the Ferrari pair of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen eighth and 10th, either side of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.
With no Caterham and Marussia, the latter officially out of business after the doors were closed on their English factory on Friday, the FIA reverted to the qualifying format as run in the United States last Saturday.