Q & A with Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg: I've had my first real week off since April where I could just concentrate on my training, and the whole week was just dedicated to getting my energy back. It was nice because I had two weeks off in August, but I used them to take a holiday and just do nothing, and my physical level just went down over the season, so I needed to get it up again. So that was really cool, and I spent some time with my girlfriend and things like that.

Q. You also tested yesterday with Williams - how did that go for you?

Rosberg: Yeah, because there was a possibility that I could do the final two races so I knew I had to give all I had to be able to do that, because it's bloody difficult in a Formula One car to do more that fifteen laps - it's not easy. So I was just working out for that as well, and now they've decided to keep Pizzonia in the car, which I think they've just announced. In the end I think it was down to them wanting some continuity in the team, and I don't know any of the people in the race team because I haven't met them, and it would have been pretty risky for me [to race] because it would have been a big jump into cold water, for sure - there was a small chance that it would have gone alright, but a big chance that it would have been a disaster. So it's better like this - it was the wisest decision.

Q. And presumably you wanted to focus on this weekend, considering what's at stake?

Rosberg: Yes - this was my priority, and the rest was just ... whatever, you know.

Q. So how do you see this weekend working out for you?

Rosberg: The thing is I've already done what I had to do, because I've really shown that I'm one of the two best in GP2, and considering Heikki's experience and that I'm ahead now, that he has two years experience in a similar category and that he's older than me, I've really achieved more than I wanted to this year. It's been a great year for me already - it's been amazing - and I think I've made a huge step myself from Formula Three last year. F3 was a good lesson for me I think, because I didn't have the best car and I really had to drive over every limit to be in front, and I spent a lot of time off the track because I was just over doing it and struggling to keep up, so I think it was a really good year for me to learn, and this year, having a good car, I was able to pull out everything and really improve myself. I've made very few mistakes, scored in every race except two, but I had pole so I still scored points that way and was in lead when I had some problems.

Q. What do you think has been the biggest difference, the thing that has allowed you to step up this year?

Rosberg: I think a lot of it comes down to this car is a lot better for me than Formula Three. It's a very big difference - in F3 you're carrying a lot of speed into and through the corner, and you don't really have an exit - the exit is the speed you carry through the corner. This year you could drive it like an animal - brake on the limit, turn in somehow and then step on it again, and I enjoy that much more, because I'm a really, really late braker normally, and I think that is a lot better for me. And qualifying here is much better for me than in F3, where you just go round and round and don't even feel when the tyres come in.

Q. You raced here last year in F3 - with no free practice and going straight into qualifying, does that hand you an advantage?

Rosberg: No, because qualifying is like free practice. Of course I'll have a little advantage because I know the track, and that will help, but I don't think it will be very much.

Q. So what do you see happening for the races this weekend?

Rosberg: Even though I said I've achieved my goal already, that hasn't changed anything about how badly I would like to win, because I don't like coming second in anything! So I'm just going to go for it, and I'm really trying to just think of it like just any other race, to go out and do the best I can and not think about it too much.