There was a mixture of emotions at the Mercedes Grand Prix works team following British Grand Prix qualifying as Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher archived varying grid positions of fifth and tenth on Saturday. The 7-time World Champion admitted that mistakes were made as he pushed too hard on his all-important Q3 laps.
Looking to be eliminated in Q2 as the second phase of qualifying came to an end, Rosberg managed to jump to sixth before going one better in the top ten shootout.
“I'm really pleased with fifth place today and it shows good progress after being so far back in Valencia at the last race,” he commented. “This is a positive step and important for us to know that we really understood what the problems were and how efficiently we have been able to turn the situation around.
“Everyone at the factory has worked really hard and this gives us a great chance for the race tomorrow at one of our home circuits. My lap was good today and it's nice to be fighting back up there towards the front again. I'm looking forward to the race and, if I get a good start, then we have every reason to expect a strong result.”
Schumacher, on the other hand, dropped behind the Sauber of Pedro de la Rosa and was unable to move back ahead of the Spaniard on his own final run.
“Clearly I am disappointed after today's qualifying, as I couldn't get my lap together in Q3,” he admitted. “After the second session which was pretty good, I wasn't able to maximize my performance and I am obviously unhappy about my grid position. I made a small mistake on my first quick lap so I slowed down to give the tyres the possibility to work again for the second fast lap.
“But there wasn't much more to come and so I pushed harder and therefore made some mistakes. Now I will have to work hard for the race tomorrow which will be difficult from where I am starting as overtaking here is not really possible. I have to do a good start and see how far I can get - I will certainly try to make the most out of it.”
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