Nico Rosberg is confident he still has some pace in hand compared to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, after the Briton topped both Friday practice sessions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Formula One points leader was nearly half a second behind his title rival in FP1 but managed to close the gap to just 0.079s in the evening at Yas Marina Circuit.
This means Rosberg has led only one session since last month’s Japanese Grand Prix but the German, who was on pole position in Abu Dhabi the past two years, explains why he was trailing Hamilton on the opening day.
“[Lewis]’s a little bit faster but I didn’t do my lap properly so I still have a bit in reserve,” Rosberg said. “But it’s going to be tough because he’s driving well and it’s going to be a close battle tomorrow and I’ll drive for pole.”
Like any Friday evenings at races, Rosberg, Hamilton, and their engineers will have pored over each other’s data in a bid to fine-tune their cars for the remainder of the weekend. Asked whether this open-book policy was unsettling with the title at stake, Rosberg says he is used to it.
“It doesn’t [bother me] because we have always done it that way and that’s the way it is when you are fighting your own teammate, but of course in F1 terms maybe it’s a bit unusual because more often than not you have drivers from different teams fighting for a championship.
“But it’s the nature of our battle, we know it’s that way and we just have to make the most of it.”
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