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GPF1 Valencia 08 : GPF1 Belgium 08 :

Nico's Column Belgian GP (9/09/2008) Spa-Francorchamps is one of my favourite circuits, but this year’s Belgian Grand Prix turned out to be a frustrating event for AT&T Williams. Our FW30 lacked grip through the track’s twisty middle sector and the best I could do in the race was 12th place. Our car performs best on tracks with shallow corners and long braking areas, so we knew before arriving at Spa that the circuit’s high speed sweeps would be a big challenge. We had a few new parts aimed at improving the aerodynamic balance at high speed, but from the start of first practice we knew it was going to be tough to finish in the points. In qualifying the car was competitive in sectors one and three, the sections with long periods of full throttle, but I struggled through the middle sector and lined up 15th on the grid. Having started fifth at Spa last year, it was disappointing to be so far back. However, one area of car performance where we’ve improved a lot recently is with our starts. I arrived at Spa late because I was doing some practice starts at Silverstone on Thursday morning and this work paid off on Sunday because the track was damp when the race started. I gained two places on the run to Turn 1, despite having a very heavy car because I was on a one-stop strategy. All things considered, 12th was about as good as I could have hoped for. Had I not been a lap down, I might have benefitted more from switching to wet weather tyres when the rain came three laps from the end. Nick Heidfeld stopped at the same time as me and with the extra lap at his disposal he was able to move up from eighth to third by the flag, which was pretty amazing. We now head to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. We had a very good test there two weeks ago and I expect the car to be more competitive there than it was in Belgium. It would be doubly great to get a good result there because it’s the team’s 500th race. I was asked recently to name a car from AT&T Williams’ history that I would most like to have driven. That’s easy for me to answer: it would be the 1986 FW11. It had the massively powerful Honda turbo engine and I would have Nelson Piquet as my team-mate. That would be fun! I’ll catch up with you all again soon, Nico

Preview GP Italy 2008 : Nico Rosberg : "We had a good test in Monza two weeks ago, both in terms of evaluating new parts and defining set-up for the Grand Prix. I am looking forward to racing at the Autodromo, not only because it is the quickest circuit on the calendar, but also because it has so much history. Monza is really fun to drive because of the super fast start-finish straight, the tight braking events at the end of the lap and also the kerbs which you have to ride as much as you can. The faster corners are quite difficult to drive because we run such little downforce at Monza, but that doesn’t diminish the experience of driving at one of the best circuits we visit! To top the weekend off, the atmosphere, the people and the food in Italy are all great, so I’m really looking forward to the weekend!" source : AT&T Williams F1 Team

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

7/09/08 - F1.com : Q&A with Williams’ Nico Rosberg After a disappointing qualifying at Spa, Nico Rosberg has been eager to talk about anything other than his Belgian Grand Prix prospects. Starting a lowly 15th on the grid, he feels there is little he can do other than wait for an unexpected opportunity to arise in the race. With the Williams apparently suffering aerodynamically - a big problem at Spa - he believes he will be lucky to improve on his starting position come the chequered flag… Q: Do Williams have a simulator? And in what way does it help you for new race tracks like Valencia and Singapore? Nico Rosberg: Yes, we have one. It’s good for learning new tracks, but it’s not in any ways as good as the real race track. We do not concentrate so much on the simulator; we might use it for a couple of hours to figure out and learn the course. Q: Are you looking forward to the all-new Singapore track, and how will your time schedule adapt to the different situation of a night race? NR: Well, wouldn’t it be the best to go straight into a discotheque after arriving, party hard and then sleep during the daytime? Then I would get the perfect rhythm for the night race, right? If anyone wants to join, feel free! Q: What did you think about Valencia? Some drivers described the track as rather easy, or even boring… NR: Well, from my side I really liked the track and enjoyed racing there. Also I did a very good job there, and it was not boring at all. Of course it is completely different to Spa-Francorchamps. Here we have a lot of fast corners. For Valencia, I think we could use a little more atmosphere, more glamour, more yachts in the harbour and for sure more events. Then it would come closer to Monaco, and I think then the racing factor would also be more exciting. Q: Coming back to the here and now: how do you see your qualifying performance and, consequently, what do you expect from the race? Is there any big issue with the car? NR: To be honest, qualifying was terrible. I ended at P15, and I did nothing wrong. Basically we were just too slow. The problem I would say is mostly an aerodynamics issue, and also some weight difficulties. And this is where the performance is in a modern F1 car. Q: Have the team stopped developing this year’s car to concentrate more on the 2009 one? NR: No. We have been developing the 2009 car since the beginning of the season, and have never stopped continuing to develop this year’s car. Q: Would you prefer a wet race at Spa-Francorchamps, and what do you expect? NR: Of course I would like to have a wet race, considering that I am at P15. What can I do from behind? But as far as I know the chances are slim that we can expect rain during the race. So it looks not too good to finish in a good position. Q: You will be with Williams again next year. Considering there might be a free cockpit at BMW Sauber, wouldn’t you want to try for that? NR: Well, as matter of fact I have a contract with Williams for next year, so there is no discussion about that for myself. Q: How do you see your future with Williams, and the development of the team? NR: Well, this year has gone very badly so far. For next year we need to develop a competitive car. As there is a rule change for next year, I truly believe that we can achieve way better results, as all teams will have to start from zero. For me the most important thing is that I know that I am doing a good job. Even if I finish P14 in a race, and I know I did a good job, then I am happy. And as long as the team is happy with me and is confident in my work, everything is perfect. This is the link : GPF1 Belgium 08 : Race... Nico Rosberg : "It wasn’t such an exciting race for me today. Ultimately I did the best I could from where I started and the performance we had in the car and, I think adding all this up, 12th is probably about the best we could have achieved. At the end of the race we had to make the difficult judgement to come in for the wet tyres, and although we didn’t make any gain, I still think it was a good decision to take. Overall then, it wasn’t a good weekend for us and now we need to look forward to Monza and try to improve things. After the recent test there we are confident that it is a track that will suit us better." iWitness Friday in Spa : One man who isn’t going to be running anywhere at Spa is Nico Rosberg. He was given a new mountain bike at a Randstadt event last Monday and loves his new toy. “I really enjoy mountain biking and this is a really special bike,” he says. “It’s light; it has great suspension and lots of gears. I want to use it all the time!” This is the link : iWitness friday

Testing to Monza (27/08/08) : GPF1 Belgium 08 : Friday... Nico Rosberg : "The morning didn’t start too well and we weren’t looking so good, so we made some big set-up changes over lunch and we definitely improved and found some clear direction. We have some new development parts on the car, which have helped our pace even if the conditions have been too variable to really get the most out of them today. If I think about it, our experience today has been much like last year when we struggled here on Friday but improved a lot over the course of the weekend. So we have taken some good steps forward today, but of course we still need to find some more performance tomorrow to close up to those in front of us." Saturday... Nico Rosberg : "I didn’t really expect us to struggle so much in qualifying today. While we knew that Spa was not going to be our best track, being this far back is unexpected and very disappointing. In one respect, my car was okay from a balance perspective, but there was a serious lack of grip which meant I couldn’t go any faster. Obviously looking ahead to the race tomorrow, some rain would give me a small chance to achieve something, otherwise it’s going to be very difficult."

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

Testing to Monza (28/08/08 - interview with italian TV, RAI) : GPF1 Belgium 08 :

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

GPF1 Belgium (5/09/08) :

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

GPF1 Belgium 2008 (4/09/08) :

This is a video on Nelsinho :

(Motorsport Aktuell - 4/09/08) : Rosberg: Test statt Medien Von Mathias Brunner Nico Rosbergs Programm vom Donnerstag verläuft etwas anders als sonst: Testen in Silverstone statt Reden in Belgien Williams-Ass Nico Rosberg ist einer der dankbarsten Gesprächspartner im Fahrerlager: hochprofessionell, mit einem guten Schmäh, vielsprachig, hellwach und intelligent. Umso schmerzlicher wurde seine übliche Medienrunde vom Donnerstag vermisst. Grund: Williams hatte seinen besten Piloten nach Silverstone aufgeboten, um am Morgen einen letzten Funktionstest zu fahren. Natürlich hätte man diesen maximal 50 Kilometer langen Test von einem Ersatzfahrer absolvieren lassen können, aber die Techniker legen Wert auf die Expertise des jungen Deutschen. Das unterstreicht den Status, den sich Nico bei Williams erarbeitet hat. Nico unlängst: «Es ist schon schön zu sehen, dass sich ein Team auf deine Aussagen verlässt. Das vertieft das gegenseitige Vertrauen.» Rosberg reist derzeit Richtung Belgien, in Spa-Francorchamps wird es nach seiner Ankunft dann nur noch zur obligaten Pistenbesichtigung zu Fuss mit seinen Ingenieuren reichen, die Medienrunde musste über die Klinge springen. This is the link :

3/09/08 : Formel-1-Star Nico Rosberg trainiert in Bad Nauheim „Ich will der Deutsche sein, dem die Fans zujubeln" Von PETER HECK und THOMAS SULZER Wo der große Schumi sich fit hielt, ist Nico Rosberg (23) jetzt Stammgast... Sportklinik Bad Nauheim, 9 Uhr morgens. Zwischen Physiotherapie und Badminton das BILD-Interview. Die Sonne ist gerade über die Taunus-Hügel gekrochen. Der neue Formel-1-Star trinkt einen Latte Macchiato und plaudert. Nico Rosbergs Williams Er sagt Sätze wie: „Ich bin wegen Michael Schumacher hierher gekommen.“ Er sagt auch: „Ich bin extrem ehrgeizig. 13. oder 15. Plätze sind nicht mein Anspruch.“ Gerade wurde er in Valencia Achter, davor in Budapest nur 14. In der Branche heißt es, der Williams-Toyota sei zu schlecht, nicht konkurrenzfähig. Rosberg, geboren in Wiesbaden, sagt es so: „Das Team hat mir in diesem Jahr nur für die drei Stadtkurse ein gutes Auto gegeben. Und in einem der Rennen stand ich auf dem Podium. Es ist schwierig momentan, aber ich bleibe definitiv auch in der nächsten Saison. Die, die es sehen müssen, die sehen, was die Gründe sind.“ Und er hat Ziele: „Ich würde gerne eines Tages derjenige Deutsche sein, dem die Fans zujubeln.“ Nico Rosberg (rechts) und Dr. Johannes Peil (2.v. links) beim Interview mit den BILD-Redakteuren Thomas Sulzer (l.) und Peter Heck (2.v.r.) : Dr. Johannes Peil, der Klinik-Chef, setzt sich zu uns. Neben Rosberg trainieren er und seine Physios u.a. auch noch den Shooting-Star Timo Glock (26). Zurück zu Rosberg. Dr. Peil: „Was den Nico auszeichnet ist sein totaler Wille. Er hat es verinnerlicht, dass man in der Formel 1 nur eine Chance haben kann, wenn man ein Athlet ist. Die Zeiten, in denen man nur ein guter Autofahrer sein musste, sind längst vorbei.“ Vor allem Michael Schumacher (39), der siebenfache Rekord-Champion, setzte Maßstäbe in Sachen Fitness. „Sogar wir haben von Michael gelernt“, sagt Peil. Jetzt wird das Knowhow an die heutige Fahrer-Generation wie Rosberg weitergegeben. „Ich versuche gesund zu leben. Ich trinke selten Alkohol, mache in Treppenhäusern von Hochhäusern Intervalltraining,“ erzählt er. Nico Rosberg weiß: Nur so wird er ein Großer... This is the link :

E-shop AT&T Williams Brochure 2008 Collection of clothes is really great !

video preview Spa 2008 : Belgium GP Flyby

Preview GP Belgium 2008 : Nico Rosberg : "We had a great race at Spa last year. I finished sixth, which was one of my best results of the season. The important thing for the team at the moment is that we’ve identified where improvements can be made with the FW30 and are making the necessary adjustments to take us into the final few races. The work everyone at the factory is putting in should help us out in Spa. We’re not going to make a huge jump, but we’ll definitely be heading in the right direction. I’m really looking forward to the Belgian Grand Prix because Spa is an amazing race track. It will be difficult to score points there, but you can never predict what will happen somewhere like Spa, so we’ll have to wait and see." This is the link : Preview Spa 08

Magrella Garden Party (2007, april) :

Testing to Monza (28/08/08) :

28/08/08 : Exklusiv bei Bild.de Mit Ralf und Cora in St. Tropez Von SARAH FENSKE St. Tropez – das bedeutet Sonne, Strand, luxuriöse Jachten und schöne Menschen. Mittendrin Cora (31) und Ralf Schumacher (33)… Deutschlands wohl bekanntestes Glamour-Paar erholt sich derzeit in ihrem Haus in Südfrankreich vom Alltagsstress. Mittelmeer-Schick und Rennfahrer-Flair: Wer hier an Schickimicki-Urlaub denkt, liegt falsch. Cora und Ralf zeigen sich in ihren Ferien entspannt und bodenständig. Wollten Sie schon immer wissen, was die beiden abseits des Blitzlichtgewitters machen? Wo Ralf sein Lieblingseis kauft und warum Cora sich im Süden von Frankreich so wohl fühlt? Am 31. August geht es für Ralf mit der Deutschen Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) in England (Brands Hatch) weiter. Bis dahin genießen er und seine Frau noch die frische Sommerbrise mit Blick auf den exklusiven Lifestyle am Mittelmeer… This is a link : Cora & Ralf to St Tropez