Nico Rosberg admits he “was on the edge” during his final lap which secured pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The two Mercedes drivers were closely matched throughout Saturday’s running at Interlagos and it was Rosberg who eventually prevailed in qualifying by 0.078s. Having secured his fifth consecutive pole position, Rosberg said his final attempt was right on the limit as he chased the extra bit of time required to secure first place on the grid.

“Of course pleased with today, the best place to be in for tomorrow’s race,” Rosberg said. “It worked well in qualifying. I was playing catch-up a little bit in quali two because it didn’t go to plan, but then quali three we really got going and got some good laps in. The last lap was on the edge, there was a couple of big moments in there but it still worked out to be a good time so I’m happy with that.”

Having also won the last race in Mexico, when asked how important it is for him to continue the current momentum he is enjoying through to the end of the season, Rosberg says it is not his primary focus.

“I’m just thinking about the individual races. I’m here, I want to win and that’s it really. Of course as a side-effect P2 in the championship is there to be had, which is better than P3 for sure. Also it’s always better to end on a high than on a low for sure this season, also thinking about next year.”

REPORT: Rosberg takes fifth pole in a row by 0.078s

AS IT HAPPENED: Brazilian Grand Prix - qualifying

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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