Unhappy Rosberg thought front row would be “easy”

2013 German Grand Prix

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Nico Rosberg said it will take a little time to get over his disappointing qualifying performance for the German Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver stayed in the pits in the final minutes of Q2 as several drivers improved their times, leading him to be knocked out. He will start from the sixth row of the grid.

“Yeah the team just made a mistake,” said Rosberg. “We just underestimated the track ramping up.”

“So that’s a big disappointment, didn’t see that coming. I thought it would be easy to be on the front row today. So definitely tough to digest that one, it’s going to take a bit of time.”

Rosberg doubts he will be able to achieve much from his starting position in the middle of the field: “Tomorrow, from 11th, it’s not going to be possible to do much but I’ll give it everything anyways.”

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    46 comments on “Unhappy Rosberg thought front row would be “easy””

    1. Well time to show everyone you can drive as good as Hamilton. He had a flat tire which is worse than starting 11th.

      1. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
        6th July 2013, 15:01

        good point. still I think he had been decent in the past starting for midfielder.

    2. Traverse (@)
      6th July 2013, 14:54

      Achieving a front row qualy is anything but easy, and describing it in such terms just shows a lack of respect for the competition. One should never be complacent.

      1. I think he can aim for the podium from there . But he will have two red rockets up-front to prevent him !
        Alonso will doubtless bring his goods to the fore tomorrow

      2. My thoughts exactly. Given the RB P3 pace and the eventual Q3 times, there was nothing easy about qualifying ahead of RB on this track. Lewis showed how gifted he is in that lap correcting the understeer/oversteer and preventing that back end from stepping out on him.

        Nico seems to be talking too much this week. First it was that Merc are now favorites when RB clearly have superior Sunday car on this track. Just concentrate on the job Nico!

      3. @hellotraverse

        How is it showing lack of respect? Obviously he thought the car was more than capable of it, and given that Lewis is on pole I’d say that’s a fair statement.

        1. Traverse (@)
          6th July 2013, 16:44

          @mike
          For Rosberg to assume that a front row qualy position was in the bag shows a lack of respect for his opponents abilities to qualify ahead of him. Over confidence breeds arrogance, and arrogance breeds complacency. Rosberg was so sure of himself that he didn’t even bother to make his place in Q3 secure, let alone the front row. Unwise people assume, smart people confirm.

          1. Traverse (@)
            6th July 2013, 17:01

            *overconfidence

          2. Did you hear or read what he said? It was a team call not to put him out. How does that make Rosberg “over-confident” and “arrogant”?

    3. Felt really sorry for Nick. I did not see that coming. I mean I was watching the final moments of q2 and never thought nick would be in trouble.

      Even more shame is the fact that Jenson and hulkenberg were in Q3 but did not make a run. What a waste. For fans nick and the sport itself.

      1. whos Nick ?

        1. Quick Nick?

        2. Traverse (@)
          6th July 2013, 16:47

          whos Nick ?

          The homeless guy that chases me whenever Vettel gets a dnf.

          1. How did you escape at Silverstone?

            1. Traverse (@)
              7th July 2013, 12:55

              @philereid
              I hid in a dustbin for 4 days straight. No food, no water, nothing…I’ve lost 2 stone in weight as a result. Hopefully Vet won’t dnf today because, quite frankly, I can’t take it anymore! :'(

    4. Not possible to do much from 11th? You can do plenty from 11th, especially with a fast car! Get a decent start Nico and you’ll be in contention from the start. No need to sulk Nico, now you get to prove your racing pedigree!

      1. starting 11th on the primes might just work better than from the front row on the options, tomorrow we’ll see.

        am I the only one to find the rule quali tyre–>starting tyre nonsensical?

        1. I agree. It is stopping guys going out in Q3 and that is wrong. I sure don’t watch qualifying for the ‘ facinating tyre strategies’. I want to see flat out, no holds bar pace!

      2. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
        6th July 2013, 18:57

        He doesn’t have any racing pedigree.

        1. You know he has a father that drove in f1, no?

          1. @testacorsa So did Nelsinho Piquet.

            1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
              7th July 2013, 6:17

              @dizzy-Exactly.

            2. @david-a + @shreyasf1fan That’s true – lol, but it’s still called pedigree.

    5. Well he can always start with the medium tires and counter the Ferrari strategy.

    6. Let’s be honest here, team may have made a mistake but if Nico had done better lap time on his run he wouldn’t be in this position. Of Merc and Redbull drivers he had the slowest lap time after Q2 run. Even Brawn said he didn’t do great lap there.

    7. Nico really needs to be more accurate with his assessments in general.

      Vettel and Webber were out-pacing him throughout the weekend, he’s talking about an EASSY front row?

    8. You may be a Faster driver and you may have Fast Car nico but you Dont have the Ability to give Respect to opposition which other Champions and Great Drivers has. They will never take any thing from Granted and never thinks Its Easy for them.

    9. Is it just me or has Rosberg become a bit cocky?? I can´t stand this guy. He is as exiting as a loaf of bread and so is his girl friend! HAM all the way if Alonso can´t get up there!

      1. Nah, it’s just you.

    10. I guess he got annoyed

      1. @verstappen
        LOL! How fitting eh! And he just said a couple of days ago he wanted to annoy Vettel and not the Championship!! Karma!!

        1. @karter22 hehe.. What goes around comes around ..eh ?

    11. You have a car that has been the car to beat in qualifying for nearly the whole season. A front row was more than achievable for Rosberg and should be disappointed.

    12. Really feel gutted for Nico. I was watching the Live Timing on Formula1.com and could not believe when I saw that Nico’s name was not in Q3.

    13. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
      6th July 2013, 19:00

      Hah..”easy” . Seems the guy is getting cocky about his two wins this year – one on Monaco which obviously doesn’t allow for much racing so he got it easy due to Merc’s qualifying pace. And the one in Silverstone, come on, was pure luck.

      1. Rosberg has had the same number of poles (4) in his 3.5 seasons at Mercedes as Fred, which is a great effort considering how uncompetitive the Mercedes was for most of that time.

        In fact, I think all four of Nico’s poles were in the dry including one at Monaco which is the true test of a driver given it’s technical nature.

        On the other hand, two of Alonso’s four Ferrari poles were set in the wet (where the Ferrari was strong) and of his two dry poles, one was set at Monza which is the least technical and one of the least driver dependant circuits on the calendar.

        1. Well, Singapore is a huge challenge- I’d consider it to be rather driver dependent.

          1. On the other hand, two of Alonso’s four Ferrari poles were set in the wet (where the Ferrari was strong) and of his two dry poles, one was set at Monza which is the least technical and one of the least driver dependant circuits on the calendar.

            And don’t forget to mention Singapore, where he challenged and beat Vettel in qualifying with an inferior car. ;-)

            1. Okay, so once in nearly 4 seasons. That’s why Ferrari pay him the big bucks I guess…

    14. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
      6th July 2013, 19:01

      Hah..”easy” . Seems the guy is getting cocky about his two wins this year – one on Monaco which obviously doesn’t allow for much racing so he got it easy due to Merc’s qualifying pace. And the one in Silverstone, come on, was pure luck. This sort of attitude is the downfall of any man, and not just f1 drivers.

    15. Knee jerk reactions…everywhere…

      1. +1

        If HAM had not made it to Q3 because of a team error last week in Silverstone, none of the comments above would have surfaced above the tirade aimed at Merc…

    16. I, for one, am perfectly content with his honest answers. C’mon guys, would you rather he said something utterly meaningless, non-committal, and unimpeachable? As it is, nearly every driver from 2nd on down goes, “Yeah, it was tough but we’ll try our best tomorrow!” and you’re complaining about the one who didn’t?

      1. @pelican I agree, a lot of the comments don’t take into consideration that this is possibly the best opportunity for Rosberg to win on home soil, in front of his fans, so I feel for him that the team let him down and he’s clearly cut by it, but he isn’t lashing out, and he isn’t even angry, he just feels let down.

    17. As I recall Felepe Massa started 11th @ Silverstone and by the end of the first lap he was sixth! No excuses. I think he said this so the German fans won’t be disappointed if he does poorly at home. Or he knows that he can get a good result, but he’s trying to look modest so that the result is even more impressive.

    18. I saw an interview where he was asked what he thought was possible, and he answered “front row”.
      Hope this is not the interview Keith is citing here.

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