Nico Rosberg says Mercedes not 100 percent but some progress made in Valencia practices – Formula 1
Mercedes’ Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg has showed concerns over his team’s performance in the Valencia Grand Prix free practice session of the 2011 Formula 1 season.
Rosberg stated that although the result of FP1 and FP2 showed that Mercedes have improved, still the team is not where it needs to be.
The young German added that the balance of the car is not what it should be. He hoped the Mercedes’ engineers are able to fix this before the qualifiers and race.
Rosberg stated, “Well, it was a bit of a mixed performance today. In the morning we lost a bit of time as we had the wrong the set-up. And indeed we made some good progress, even though I am not completely satisfied today.”
Talking about the hiccups in the Mercedes car, Nico explained, “I cannot put my finger on one thing and say this is the cause - it is a general feeling. The balance is not what I hoped it would be so my guys will work on the set-up this evening and I hope
it will be different tomorrow morning in FP3 so that we can build on that and get a good qualifying.”
The young German also stated that he will not be targeting something that is not possible with the current Mercedes car. Nico stated that he will be targeting sixth place in the qualifiers and then build on something good in the race.
In the 2010 Valencia Grand Prix, Nico managed 12th place in the qualifiers and finished the race in the 10th place only. However, talking about the 2011 season, the German stated that something between sixth and eighth is possible for
Mercedes.
Nico is currently 10th on the drivers’ championship with 26 points whereas his teammate Michael Schumacher is in ninth place.
On the other hand, the Mercedes team finds itself in fifth place in the constructors’ table with 52 points.
The Valencia qualifiers will be contested on Saturday and it will be interesting to see what Nico manages in his Mercedes car.
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