Monaco GP - Post-race press conference - Pt.2
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Ralf Bach - Der Spiegel)
Nico, the two secret test days that you had in Barcelona. How helpful were those days for you?
Nico Rosberg:
That you have to ask, you have to ask Pirelli about all this, about this issue. I'm not going to comment. I'm not going to comment on that. You have to ask Pirelli.
Q: (Kate Walker - GP Week)
Nico, we often hear drivers say that the most exciting race to win other than their home Grand Prix is Monaco. Obviously this is both for you. Could you please give us a bit of a sense of the elation and euphoria you must be feeling? What was it like doing that slowing down lap?
Nico Rosberg:
Unbelievable. If there's maybe a childhood dream... when I was quite young, watching the race, always. First memories were of Ayrton Senna with his yellow helmet, red and white winning, a childhood dream to one day win the Grand Prix of Monaco, because it is my home and that's the most special race for me to win, so the feeling was just incredible, it was unreal. That's what's so special about the sport: these emotions that you then get and that makes up for all the difficult moments that have gone before, those great moments of joy and winning. Amazing.
Q: (Vincent Marre - Sport Zeitung)
Nico, now that everything is going well, I would like to rate the percentage of your chances of winning the title?
Nico Rosberg:
I haven't thought about that at all yet, because just two weeks we ago were seventy seconds away in the race and even today, tyre degradation was still an issue. I think we were in a better position, much better definitely, but it's also a different track, very different track, different circumstances. I had the possibility of taking it easy and dictating the pace initially to save tyres, so we shouldn't get over-excited now, for the next couple of races. We still have a bit of an issue with our race pace and that's still what we need to work on, and also the development race. Everybody's pushing forward, flat out, and we need to make sure to keep up with that as we have been doing at the moment, which is great to see, because that was one of our weaknesses last year, we dropped away mid-season. For now it's going really well, so thanks to everybody back in the factory, doing a really cool job. But we have to wait and see. I'm definitely not thinking about the championship, I'm just thinking about today, winning Monaco.
Q: (Jussi Jakala - YLE)
Nico, do you think this was maybe the final seal to get rid of the status of being Keke's son, so that you have achieved everything by your own skills now?
Nico Rosberg:
Don't know, that's for you to judge. I don't think about that in that sense so you need to judge that for yourself. I can't comment on that.
Q: (Dan Knutson - Auto Action/National Speedsport News)
Mark, before the red flag, Lewis got right up alongside you at Rascasse. What happened, did he maybe catch you by surprise there?
Mark Webber:
No, I was probably just saving my tyres a bit too much and yeah, he was going for a little bit of a surge also, I think. They were probably a little bit more comfortable on the primes in certain performance areas of the circuit and also the car characteristics, so, yeah, he was a little bit more comfortable on that section of the track. I was also just... we knew we had a long way to go in the race and also I had four or five laps less on my tyres, because I did the undercut on these guys. I had to give him room. I think experience helps in those scenarios. I thought he might tap me... I could just see him in the mirror. I thought 'mmm, he's in there somewhere' but I had to give him the room and then thank God we got round Rascasse together somehow. I think that was probably not that straightforward. Not possible for GP2 drivers but us boys managed to pull it off which we should be able to so it was a rewarding little battle.
Q: (Bob McKenzie - Daily Express)
Nico, referring back to that previous question about your father; have you at times, when you were younger or when you came into Formula One, did you feel any pressure from the fact that your father was so well known, being a World Champion, that sort of thing?
Nico Rosberg:
I've always felt very fortunate to have had my father... what he achieved and everything... to have his support and extra pressure? It's a normality for me you know, having my father World Champion. I grew up with that, started racing like that, so it's not something where I feel any extra pressure because for me that's normal.
Q: (Jacqueline Magnay - News LTD Australia)
Mark, I'm just wondering whether you have an opinion on this secret tyre testing, whether it had any impact, and whether you think there was any advantage to Mercedes having done the testing?
Mark Webber:
That's a fair question. I think we were probably a little bit surprised that it happened. I don't think it probably had a huge bearing on today's result. I think their car was always going to perform pretty well round here, to be fair, but yeah, you can't unlearn what went on at the test obviously, so we need to see how the test came about and whether it's within the rules or not. I'm sure Mercedes thought it was OK, so that's why they did it, so time will tell. But I don't think it affected today's result.
Q: (Frederic Ferret - L'Equipe)
Nico, what was the most difficult thing for your victory today, getting the pole yesterday, starting after the safety car, or the last lap with the emotion?
Nico Rosberg:
Qualifying was difficult because of the conditions. The start was very difficult because I had a bad start. Those were the two keys. Once those two things were done, from then on it was OK. There were still some challenges with the safety car, because the tyres were very cold on those prime tyres, for example so there were other challenges but the main ones were qualifying and the start.
