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Q & A with Nico Rosberg

Q. Your father went 62 races before scoring his first Grand Prix win, how long do you think it will take you?

Nico Rosberg: I don't know, in F1 I think generally it takes about three years to win. We will see, if you're lucky it is before that but normally it is around there and sometimes after. I think it took Jenson around 115 races to win or something, which when you think about it is a hell of a long time.

I mean you are in racing to win - it's the nicest emotions you have when you win. It is one of the difficult sides of F1 really that you are never going to always have that.

In all the categories underneath you always get that, in F1 there can be times when the success is just not there, so you just have to learn relax, cope with it, turn around and keep motivated.

Q. Do you think that having the whole of Friday practice will help this year's rookies adapt to the circuits better?

NR: It will help a little bit but it wasn't really something that hurt me a lot last year. Sometimes obviously it wasn't perfect, but I don't think it is going to make the biggest difference.

Q. With the homologated engine at the same tyres, will it make it easier now that you only have to concentrate on chassis set-up during race weekends?

NR: It's not easier no, because now just more effort will go into the chassis development that's all. The focus is shifting from area to another you know. I think it will make for good racing because the tyres had too much importance for me.

NR: It was good to give them importance, but for me it was too much. So much of every testing days was tyres, and it went on and on and on, and it also cost a fortune.

From my point of view it is a good step that everybody has the same tyre, and more effort is put into the team's job and the eventual car that they bring out. So for me it's okay.

Q. Do you think driver input will be more important this year?

NR: No. Driver input is always important. Driver was also important last year with the tyre development very important.

Q. You had many disappointments last year, what did you learn from them?

NR: The positives were that I gained a lot of experience from last year, you learn a lot in a year of F1. Generally it is always said that it is especially the bad years you take the most from, and that's what I am going to have to try and do and turn it around to make a good year this year.

The signs for now are really good I must say and the clearest signal is when you look around and see the faces of the people in the factory. I think that is the best barometer of how we are doing at the moment. Everybody is positive at the moment and that is the most important thing is to see that everybody is in good spirits before I've even had the chance to drive.

That's a special thing about this team is that even after a poor season last year they were able to keep their motivation and keep pushing like hell. It's nice to be part of it and I really hope and believe for all of us that we can do a lot better this year.

Q. Do you expect to be the lead driver for Williams in 2007?

NR: No, not at all. At Williams it's always the case that the two drivers have equal opportunities, you cannot say that you are a lead driver in anyway no.

Q. The team has brought you on as a young promising star; do you still feel any pressure from that?

NR: I think there is always pressure in Formula One, but I have high expectations of myself and mainly you put the pressure on yourself to do well. The fact that Williams have brought me in as a young guy, they have obviously invested a lot of hope into me.

I am going to my best, as Alex is, to give it back to them and get better results. But in the end it always a team effort. We have got to work together, I have got to do a good job, the car needs to be strong, and it all needs to fit together.

Q. It's not the strongest driver line-up in terms of results in comparison to others, how do you match up and how are you going to compete?

NR: I get along very well with Alex. I worked with him last year when he was the test driver and we had a lot of fun. And that I think is very important, to have fun when you can and be serious when you need to be serious.

Alex is very strong on the technical side so that is going to help us in the team, especially now in February when we have the last steps in development of the new car and driver input is going to be very important.

I am getting very strong in that area too and it something that I am going to pushing very hard on in the future to improve on, so together I think we can be a strong partnership.

Q. And different to working alongside Mark?

NR: Yes it is always different. Mark was a little bit frustrated last year from the year before that in 2005. He let it show a little bit last year that he was frustrated, also with the team.

So I think with Alex it will be a bit different, Alex is new coming in as a race driver once again. He is highly motivated and everything, not that Mark wasn't motivated but somehow I think it will more fun this year together with Alex.

There's not much you can say to that this year.

Q. When do you get to test the new car?

NR: We are going next week, which I am so looking forward to. The interim car was a bit of a struggle, shall we say, because it was little bit thrown together to get the reliability going, which worked out very well. The gearbox is running perfectly, the engine is running well, we've been aiming for reliability and we have made big progress there.

I think we will be good in that area, because Patrick has come back in with more power and he has been responsible for reliability in the past, and it has been one of its strengths in the past. In the background, things have been rearranged, which has allowed Sam to focus on his thing, so I think they will be happy with that.

Q. What was the biggest thing you learnt last year?

NR: It was very general. It is such a new world this F1. How to cope with journalists, how to give something of yourself, not too much, not too little, but still be normal and be open. To find a balance.

Q. So the biggest thing you learnt was off-track, not on-track?

NR: No, no also on track you learn how other drivers think on track, how much they are willing to risk. Things like that. It's just so many things where you need to get a routine for it and that will help in the second year. You know what to expect and you know how to handle certain situations.

Q. So you don't see yourself as a rookie anymore, you see yourself as a 100% prepared F1 driver, or do you still think there is a lot to learn?

NR: There is always a lot to learn in F1. I mean Michael Schumacher I'm sure was still improving in his last year. That's just the way it is because it is really the top of the game. I don't see myself as a rookie no, but I see myself as someone who can still improve a lot, because that's normal, and who will push to get better all the time.

Q. You must have personal targets for this year as well. Do you want to get on the podium?

NR: I'm a very competitive person, so my targets are very high and I don't think I have actually achieved my own targets. That's the way you have got to be, you have got to always push your targets a little bit further than you can actually reach to keep motivated and keep going.

But you still have to be realistic and I think this year we need to start off with a reliable car with the pace to finish in the points. That would be a very good starting point and we will take it from there. It's very easy to push up the expectations from there.

Q. What's better to start your career in a midfield, points-scoring car, or with a potentially race-winning car like Lewis Hamilton or Heikki Kovalainen?

NR: It's difficult to say. I was in a bit of a middle situation. The expectation was very high in the beginning. By race three we were supposed to win it in Melbourne.

I think the pressure is obviously very big to achieve success, but on the other hand when you have a car that's very good and even your teammate, who is experienced, wins or finishes second and you finish fourth, it's still going to recognised as a very good achievement and nobody is going to criticise that.

So in that sense it could be good from that point of view, from the other side it is going to be tough for sure.

Q. How many weekends would you say you were able to perform to your maximum in your rookie year?

NR: There were a few weekends where you go away and you are happy with the result definitely, but there are others where it just doesn't go your way.

But personally speaking you never achieve your 100%. I would never go away from a weekend and say I did everything well. That's the way I am.

Q. Did you do enough to satisfy yourself though?

NR: Oh no, definitely not. I will be satisfied when I am at the very top, and even then I will think I could have done better. I am very competitive and very demanding of myself and I always set my goals very high.

Q. Lots of drivers are talking about the back end of the car moving around a lot this year, is that something your equipped to deal with?

NR: That's been a big problem with our interim car in the winter. The rear was very loose and very difficult to drive. That's generally something I don't actually like. Until I got to F1 I always thought I liked an oversteer car, but then I found it difficult to find the limit.

I am a driver who induces natural oversteer, so it is not something that I really like, but you have to adapt. But I'm sure with the new car it is going to be less of a problem because it is something we have focussed on over the winter.

Q. Would you have done the same as Lewis Hamilton in his situation?

NR: I would yes, because it is really a strong car. As a driver you want to be in the best possible car, and I would choose it even though it is alongside Alonso, because that is going to be very tough.

You have got to have a lot of self-confidence because you are going to be beaten for sure sometimes. When you win everything coming up to F1 and then you get beaten, that can sometimes be very difficult.

It wasn't a nice feeling sometimes when Webber was actually quicker.

On the other hand I feel great with the team, and it's very special that I haven't seen in any other team, that even after the bruising we had last year, everybody is so motivated.

Even at the very top Frank and Patrick still have so much desire to win after 30 years of success, that's great to be a part of. And that's why it is my greatest wish, together with the team, to get back to the front and really kick some butt!

Q. How frustrating is it to watch you rivals out on the track already with the new cars, and you are still waiting to drive the new car?

NR: Very frustrating. What I like most is driving and I haven't done much of that during the winter. But that's the way the it is and now we have a good February coming up with a lot of testing days.

Q. You are going to need reliability to be strong right away though.

NR: That should be okay though, because we ran the new rear end through December and January so the reliability is fine. There are no problems there at all.

Q. Apart from reliability what most do you want to improve in the new car?

NR: Generally I think we need a little bit more top speed. We need a little bit more stability on the entry, which was a problem last year.

Q. Where is that extra little bit going to come from? Toyota?

NR: Definitely not from the engine. The engine is good and reliable, but it is not going to bring us forward. The Cosworth was very good last year, and though the Toyota is also good, it is not going to help.

Marketing-wise it is good, but performance wise it is not going to help, so we need to find it in the aero.

Q. Some of the more negative detractors might say that Williams' best days are behind them. How would you argue that?

NR: Well there is always negative in Formula One. People criticise very quickly, you've just got to get on with it. You can understand why they would say that, but on the other hand if you could walk around here and see how much everybody is pushing, and all the new sponsors.

Extra people have joined the team, rather than people leaving as well. All the signs are looking good for the future.

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