GPF1 Belgium 08 :

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

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."

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

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

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

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

GPF1 Valencia 08 :

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

GPF1 Belgium 08 :

7/09/08 - F1.com : Q&A with Williams’ Nico Rosberg

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!

Nico Rosberg hofft auf Besserung

11/09/08 - Motorsport Aktuell : Die beste Chance?

Von Mathias Brunner

Nico Rosberg glaubt, dass Monza für Williams die beste Chance birgt, das eigene Punktekonto zu verbessern.

«Ich freue mich auf den Monza-GP», sagt Williams-Ass Nico Rosberg. «Und das hat mehrere Gründe. Aufgrund der Pistencharakteristik glaube ich, dass Monza für uns die beste Chance bietet, weitere WM-Zähler zu erobern. Wir hatten darüber hinaus einen sehr guten Test und waren an beiden Tagen Zweitschnellste.»

«Ich selber mag Monza sehr, die hohe Geschwindigkeit, die mittelschweren Kurven, das Gerumpel über die Schikanen, der niedrige Abtrieb. Monza macht Spass.»

Aber Nico fühlt sich nicht nur auf der Piste zuhause, sondern auch im Land: «Ein Teil von mir muss Italiener sein, ich mag einfach die Einstellung dieser Menschen, ich wuchs mit italeinischen Freunden auf und mit ihrer Kultur, das taugt mir.»

Logischerweise wurde auch Rosberg auf das umstrittene Urteil der FIA-Kommissare in Belgien angesprochen. Nico dazu: «Ich glaube, Lewis hatte in jener Szene wirklich einen Vorteil, weil er nach dem Abschneiden näher an Kimi dran war also zuvor. Ich fand das Strafmass aber sehr hart.»

Wird dieses Urteil Signalwirkung haben? Wird ein Fahrer künftig weniger attackieren? Nico grinst: «Also mich wir das ganz sicher nicht vom Angreifen abhalten.»

This is the link :

GPF1 Italy 08 : (11/09/08)

GPF1 Italy 2008 (11/09/08) :

GPF1 Italy 08 (11/09/08) :

GPF1 Italy 08 :

GPF1 Italy 08 (11/09) :

Thursday press conference :

Nico, a good test here and some new components tested since then?

Nico ROSBERG: "The thing is with this track you have a completely different aerodynamic level, so it definitely gives us a better chance to do well here. We had a really good test and I really enjoyed this track. I have done well here in past years and the test was fantastic, we were second on both days. We should not be overly excited now, but I think we can - relatively to the races I've been in the near past or the near future - do well here. So maybe we have a chance to score a point or so."

What is it about the circuit you particularly like?

NR: "I think it's just the characteristic. I think it's really fun, big speed, big stops with the chicanes going over the kerbs, a good challenge and then all the medium speed corners. It's a nice track."

I know you speak Italian. Do you feel Italian as well?

NR: "I think part of me is Italian. I have grown up with Italian friends and so I have really grown up with the culture also. And I get on best with Italian people. I really like the way they think and everything so it is fun and nice to race here too."

motorsport-total.com (11/09/08 - 2:20 pm) : Rosberg weiß noch nichts von Singapur

In gut zwei Wochen findet in Singapur der erste Nacht-Grand-Prix der Formel-1-Geschichte auf einer brandneuen Strecke statt, doch Nico Rosberg hat sich darauf bisher noch gar nicht vorbereitet: "Ich weiß gar nichts. Ich werde die Strecke auf dem Simulator lernen", kündigte er in Spa-Francorchamps an.

11/09/08 - 2:28 pm : Rosberg freut sich auf Slicks und KERS

von Nimmervoll/Rencken

(Motorsport-Total.com) - 2009 wird in der Formel 1 ein grundlegend neues Reglement mit Slicks, Hybridtechnologie (KERS) und abgerüsteter Aerodynamik eingeführt. Nico Rosberg ist einer der Befürworter der Änderungen. Vor allem das Comeback der Slicks begrüßt der Williams-Pilot: "Auf jeden Fall, das wird Spaß machen! Du kannst dann mehr über das Limit gehen. Du kannst mehr driften und attackieren. Ich freue mich darauf."

Selbst KERS sieht er positiv: "KERS kann die Geschichte mit dem Überholen spannender machen. Und es ist auch technisch interessant. Ich finde es gut, wenn die Formel 1 auch etwas für die Serienproduktion tut, denn dann kann man auch besser mit der Formel 1 identifizieren."

Anzumerken ist allerdings, dass Rosberg nicht glaubt, dass auch nur ein einziges Team in Melbourne 2009 KERS einsetzen wird...