Nico Rosberg heads to his “home race” with a view to securing a third consecutive Monaco Grand Prix win.
After an underwhelming start to his campaign, the Mercedes driver managed to bounce back in style at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where he defeated team-mate Lewis Hamilton for the first time in 2015.
Although Rosberg declared he had not changed his approach before the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, last year’s championship runner-up admits it was important to reverse the early season trend that saw Hamilton dominate the field.
“We had a perfect weekend in Spain,” said Rosberg. “For me personally, it was good to close the gap a little in the points. There's still a long way to go this season so it's all there to fight for, I'm just taking it race by race.”
As the two-time incumbent winner, the German is quite familiar with the intricacies of racing around the Monte Carlo streets and hopes Mercedes’ recent productive in-season test will help him add a third Monaco win to his tally.
“Monaco is the most legendary, exciting and challenging event in the calendar.
“The circuit itself has very unique setup characteristics and we evaluated a few of those during the test in Barcelona, as the last sector there has a lot of tight corners that are quite representative.
“The car felt very good so I'm feeling optimistic and ready for this next race. If we can have everything running smoothly from the start it should be a good weekend, so I'm really looking forward to it.”
Raised in the Principality, Rosberg still resides in Monaco, which gives the 29-year-old some perks when the F1 community stops on the French Riviera.
“Throughout the whole weekend, the atmosphere is very, very special. It's a home race for me and it's strange to just walk or take a scooter to the racetrack - but also very cool to sleep in your own bed each night!”
Click here for Chris Medland's Monaco Grand Prix preview
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