iWitness in Singapore: Thursday

Is the pressure of superstardom forcing Nico Rosberg to go undercover? He arrived in the Singapore paddock this afternoon wearing huge black sunglasses and fake sideburns. A word of advice, Nico, from AT&T Williams’ very own undercover agent: take off the team shirt!

Or, was Nico simply trying to avoid the attention of Robert Kubica? Our man beat Robert in a high stakes poker game on the Monday after the Italian Grand Prix and rumour has it that the Pole isn’t a happy man…

It’s good to see Kazuki Nakajima getting into the spirit of things here. Yesterday he was photographed with Sir Jackie Stewart on a Dragon boat as part of an RBS PR event. While Kazuki used the opportunity to do some exercise in the form of rowing, Sir Jackie banged a drum at the front of the boat. No, JYS is not renowned for his musical ability.

Life begins at 40, right? Well, for David Webb, RBS’s head of sponsorship, his life seemed to be coming to an abrupt end on Wednesday night when he took Peter Philips and Liam Clogger on a reverse Bungee as part of his 40th birthday celebrations. As the guys pulled 5g on Singapore’s ‘ejector seat’, Webbo was heard screaming for his mother!

Singapore GP Practice (Friday) : The AT&T Williams team joined the chorus of approval for Formula One’s first night racing experience following three hours of floodlight practice on the city centre street circuit in Singapore tonight. Both Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima have found the on-track conditions intensely physical, but it hasn’t prevented the pair from making a solid start to the weekend’s preparations with both cars in the top ten by the close of play.

Nico Rosberg : "In general I think we can be quite happy with our performance today. We have started well and I feel quite confident that we can have a good weekend. Of course there is some way to go to see how we will shape up with the competition around us. As far as the track is concerned, it is a lot of fun to drive but it is however incredibly bumpy, so much so you could even get a headache! But, importantly, the track is safe and the visibility under the lights is absolutely fine. The organisers have done an amazing job and I think everybody will have a great weekend."

Thursday...

Friday...

26/09/08 - 18h39 (ITV.com) : Confident Rosberg buoyed by form

Nico Rosberg is confident Williams can maintain its strong Friday practice form into the weekend in Singapore after he ended both sessions inside the top six.

The German had predicted the new street circuit would play to the strengths of the team’s FW30 and, after setting the sixth and fifth best times in the opening two practices respectively, believes it can enjoy a much-needed strong weekend.

“In general I think we can be quite happy with our performance today,” he said.

“We have started well and I feel quite confident that we can have a good weekend.

“Of course there is some way to go to see how we will shape up with the competition around us.”

Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima completed an encouraging first day for the team by setting the ninth fastest time in the later session, albeit it being a lap 0.9s slower than Rosberg’s best.

The Japanese rookie survived a brush with a wall in second practice and says he has identified the parts of the track where he needs to find more time on.

“In the second session I had a bit of a moment as I made contact with the wall, but fortunately the damage was minor and I could complete the planned programme,” he said.

“Looking ahead, I know exactly the places on the track where I need to improve and I will have a good go at this tomorrow.”

While both drivers enjoyed the challenges presented by both the 3.15-mile street track and driving under floodlights, they both agreed that the bumpy nature of the surface increased the demands on the drivers.

“As far as the track is concerned, it is a lot of fun to drive but it is however incredibly bumpy, so much so you could even get a headache!” said Rosberg.

“But, importantly, the track is safe and the visibility under the lights is absolutely fine.

“The organisers have done an amazing job and I think everybody will have a great weekend.

Nakajima added: “It’s a very tough track, hot and bumpy, probably the bumpiest track surface we encounter all season.

“As a consequence, I think it will be a pretty demanding race.

“The grip level is not at all bad, maybe a little low at the moment, but by the time we get into qualifying and the race, the track will have rubbered in well.”

It was in the RedBulletin of Saturday... (27/09/09)

Rosberg gets richer

iWitness in Singapore (Friday)...

When asked by German TV station RTL to send a postcard to someone from Singapore, whom did Nico Rosberg choose? His girlfriend Vivian, who’s currently working New York? His mother? No, he chose to write a message to his German grandmother, Ilse. Top man!

In Vivian’s absence, Nico is courting the company of different people this weekend. This morning (afternoon local time…), it was the production crew from Spanish broadcaster TV3. They picked him up from his hotel room in the Ritz Carlton and drove him to the Marina Bay Circuit. Communications weren’t great, though: they spoke to Nico in Spanish and he replied in Italian. English anyone?

Singapore GP Qualifying...

On a highly technical and physically demanding track, the AT&T Williams team scored a season-first by qualifying both cars in the top ten. Having shown strongly since taking to the new Singapore Marina Bay circuit, Nico Rosberg qualified in P9, with his team-mate Kazuki Nakajima making his first career appearance in the final qualifying session. He will start tomorrow night’s race from tenth place.

Nico Rosberg: "I'm generally quite happy as it was quite a good qualifying for me, even though after progressing to Q2, I did hope for a little more than 9th place. Nevertheless, it’s good for the team to have both cars in the top ten and it will help us get into a position to score points. Even though we might not see too much overtaking, whatever happens tomorrow, I think it’s going to be an exciting race – the start through turn one, the battle during the pit-stops and the visual spectacle of all the cars racing through the night is going to be stunning."

Singapore GP Race - 28/09/08

Podium! Nico Rosberg led home a double points score for the AT&T Williams team, in the process claiming a career-best second place in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix. In an incident-filled and physically demanding race, Rosberg overcame the disadvantage of a stop-go penalty with a superlative drive in Formula One’s first night race to score eight points and the team’s best finish since the European Grand Prix in 2005. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima contributed a further point to the tally with a spirited drive to eighth place.

Nico Rosberg:"It was a race of so many ups and downs for me. It started badly as I ended up behind a heavy Jarno Trulli and I absolutely had to get by him to allow my strategy to work. It was quite a hairy moment getting past because it is so bumpy to outbrake at turn 7 and I couldn’t get close at turn 1, the only two places where overtaking is possible. Anyway, having eventually cleared him, I couldn’t believe it when I saw that the safety car had come out just after the team had called me in for my stop and I thought that’s the end of it. Before my stop-go penalty, I just had to push like mad and do qualifying lap after qualifying lap and I managed to build enough of a gap to complete my second stop and hold on to second place. With a handful or laps to go in the most physical race this year and a car in your mirrors, time goes amazingly slowly, but for once everything went our way. I think Frank will have to wear his lucky tartan trousers again!"

Nico's Singapore GP Column (30 September 08) :

What a fabulous result! My second podium finish of the year and a career-best second place. I’m absolutely delighted, both for the team and me. I hope this result gives everyone at the factory in Grove a big morale boost; you all deserve it.

My FW30 was strong all weekend in Singapore: I was inside the top 10 in every practice session and the car showed great pace throughout the race. I could overtake people when I needed to and the balance was consistent on both the prime and the option tyre. But that’s not to say it was a straightforward race, as I’m sure most of you saw on TV!

When the first Safety Car was deployed on lap 15, I thought my chances of getting a good result were finished. I had to pit for fuel while the pitlane was still closed and awaited my punishment from the stewards. Luckily, they had to deal with the pitlane dramas going on at Ferrari before turning their attention to me and by the time of my 10-second stop-go penalty on lap 28, I’d built up a 13 second gap at the front of the field. That meant I was able to rejoin the race behind Fernando [Alonso].

Thereafter I drove as hard as I could and had to withstand a lot of pressure from Lewis [Hamilton] towards the end, but I had everything under control. When I crossed the line, I felt a huge sense of relief, both for the result and for the fact that the race was over because it was very hot out there! It was like sitting in a sauna for two hours.

I went to the Amber Lounge on Sunday night to celebrate with the team. One ofnr 3 the great things about staying on European time for the week was that we could party away until 0700 Monday morning, yet we get into bed only one hour later than normal! It was awesome.

Now I’m off to Bali for a few days’ holiday with my girlfriend, Vivian. I plan to do a bit of surfing while we’re there, even though people keep telling me to be careful of the coral. It lies close to the shore on some beaches, so you need to choose your location carefully. Frank, if you’re reading this, rest assured that I will!

Then it’s off to Fuji Speedway for the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks time. The weather was awful last year and Kazuki [Nakajima] tells me to expect more of the same this year. Now, where’s my brolly?

Sport-Bild (28/09/08) : Pokerkönig Rosberg

von Ralf Bach

Unabhängig vom Ergebnis der Trainings oder vom sportlichen Verlauf des Wochenendes allgemein: Nico Rosberg lief vier Tage mit einer Aura eines Gewinners durch Fahrerlager und Hotelhalle. Der Grund: Nico gewann ein Pokerturnier in Venedig kurz vor dem Abflug nach Singapur.

Darüber wurde unter den Gamblern und verkappten Hütchenspielern in den Hospitality-Zelten fast mehr geredet als über richtige Reifenwahl und Rennstrategie. Der italienische Privatsender Sky Sport hatte das Turnier für aktuelle und ehemalige Formel-1-Piloten organisiert. Teilnehmer waren Nico, Robert Kubica, Giancarlo Fisichella, Giorgio Pantano, Sandro Zanardi, Tonio Liuzzi, Adrian Sutil und “die Mutter aller Gambler”, the one and only Eddie Irvine.

Nach und nach schieden die wahren Zockerprofis aus. Übrig blieben Nico und Robert Kubica. Kubica hatte aber Chips für 27.000 Euro auf der Hand, Nico nur noch 3.000. Kubica ist heute noch fassungslos: „Ich hätte locker warten können, eine Runde, zwei oder drei… und was passiert? Nico gewinnt 23 mal hintereinander.“ Selbst der Manager des Casinos in Venedig war baff: "In meinen 25 Jahren Dienstzeit habe ich das noch nie erlebt.“

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Das Ergebnis: Nico gewann die 30.000 Euro Preisgeld – er spendete die Hälfte für einen guten Zweck. Vater Keke, der mit Nicos Mutter Sina und Nico selbst von Donnerstag auf Freitag in Sinas Geburtstag reinfeierte, erzählt mir: „Von Testfahrten oder sonst welchen Formel-1-Veranstaltungen erzählt mir Nico gar nichts mehr. Aber das Poker-Turnier in Venedig war kaum beendet, da trudelte schon eine SMS meines Sohnes ein: „Ich habe Kubica nicht geschlagen – ich habe ihn zerstört.“

1/10/08 (itv-F1) : Nico expecting return to midfield in Fuji

Nico Rosberg has expressed early doubts about Williams' competitiveness at the forthcoming Japanese Grand Prix.

Rosberg took second place and the best result of his Formula 1 career around the floodlit streets of Singapore last weekend, after he benefited from a safety car and a delayed response from the stewards to his illegal pit stop.

But the 23-years-old German doesn’t feel that the sweeping and technical corners of the Fuji Speedway will suit the Williams in the same way that the point and squirt street circuit of Singapore did.

“I don’t think Fuji is going to be a great track for us,” Rosberg said on Williams’s official podcast.

“The track in Singapore was one where we could do well as we’ve seen now, but Fuji is not really going to be our great strength.”

Yet Rosberg added that the high chance of rain may play into his hands, as the Williams FW30 has been quick at the wet grands prix this season.

“But we’re still going to give it everything, we need to try and get some good results for the end of the year,” he added.

“And anyway, if it’s in the wet are car seems to be very strong so if it’s wet we still have a good chance there.”

However, Williams’s chief operations engineer Rod Nelson is keen to sample a dry track, after the deluge at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix left the team with very little useful data for this year’s event.

And Nelson reckons that the FW30 will be well suited to a dry Fuji Speedway, with the possible exception of the long sweeping turn eight that is heavily reliant on aerodynamic grip.

“The circuit was new to us last year, but much of the time it was absolutely tipping down with rain so we didn’t get much dry running and I’m kind of hoping to see what it’s like this year [in the dry],” he said

“There’s a monster right hand corner turn 8, which I think we will possibly struggle with, but the rest of it, I don’t see why we shouldn’t make hay while the sun shines.”

Japanese GP Preview (10-12/10/08) :

Fuji Speedway makes its second appearance in as many years on the Formula One calendar on Sunday 12th October for the Japanese Grand Prix. The first leg of the Japan - China double header and the last of the three back-to-backs this season, Fuji opened for business as a racing venue in 1963 and hosted the first ever Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 only for the track to be removed from the calendar after only two races having been deemed too dangerous. Bought by Toyota in 2000, the circuit’s original Nascar-style banking and antiquated layout was subjected to a complete Hermann Tilke-overhaul, the only remaining element being the 1.5km pit-straight. With the new design a rival for other new tracks appearing on the calendar at the time, the circuit was reinstated as a Formula One destination in 2007.

Located 62 miles outside of Tokyo in Oyama, part of the Shizuoka Prefecture, the Fuji Speedway is set in the foothills of Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest peak and one of the country’s hottest tourist spots. In front of a substantial crowd, last year’s inaugural race was subjected to some severe weather conditions. An earthquake shook Formula One to its foundations after the Grand Prix, while the race itself was so rain-soaked the opening 19 laps were run under the safety car, making for one of the most visually dramatic races seen all year. As the only Japanese driver on the grid, AT&T Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima will be hoping to make a good impression while racing in front of his home crowd for the first time as a Formula One driver having recently renewed his contract with the team. The team itself will be looking to capitalise upon the momentum from Singapore where Nico Rosberg took second place to assist in the fight for Championship position as the season draws to its conclusion.

Nico Rosberg : "After our second place in Singapore, we want to go to Japan with the same momentum and continue our high. Fuji Speedway might not be the best circuit for our car but weather could play a big part in the proceedings this weekend. Last year’s race was a washout and there’s a strong possibility it will rain again this year. If that happens, we’ll have a good chance of a strong finish as our car goes well in the wet. This is Toyota’s home track so I’m looking forward to driving in front of their home crowd."

This is the link : GP Japan preview

some pics...

pic 1 : F3 euroseries Macau 2003

pic 2 : GPF1 GB 2006

pic 3 : Singapore 2008

pic 4 : 2008

pic 5 : GP2 Bahreïn 2005

pic 6 : Formula BMW ADAC 2002

9/10/08 - F1.com : Exclusive Rosberg Q&A - Williams hoping for rain at Fuji

One of the biggest surprises at the last round in Singapore was Nico Rosberg’s second place, not least because he was able to take a stop-and-go penalty and still keep his Williams on the podium. After that career-best finish, the young German is confident he can continue his run of good fortune at the Fuji Speedway this weekend - as long as it rains…

Q: Nico, the dramatic race in Singapore ended very happily for you. At the start it didn’t look that promising, but after you overtook Trulli, nothing could stop you - not even a stop-and-go penalty. Can you review the crucial moments of the race?

Nico Rosberg: It was really up and down all the way in terms of my hopes. So much was going on in the race, but I’m really happy that luck was on our side for once and it all came together nicely. It was great for the whole team to finish on the podium.

Q: How were the tyres for you? Flavio Briatore said after the race that without an early switch to the harder tyres Fernando Alonso’s win wouldn’t have been possible…

NR: The softer tyre was definitely too soft and yet on low fuel at the beginning of the race it worked quite well for us. So in terms of tyre choices we got it all right.

Q: When news of your stop-and-go penalty came through, did you think your hopes were over? And how did it feel on the podium?

NR: Well I knew it was coming so I was just pushing to make the gap as big as possible. It was nice that even after the stop-and-go I was still in such a good position. And yes, it felt very nice on the podium!

Q: It was your best finish ever. Were the car and track a good match or has the FW30 improved so dramatically?

NR: The track suited our car well, so we were on for points all weekend. The good result was then a combination of luck, a strong car in the race and I also drove very well.

Q: From a driver’s point of view, did you enjoy the track?

NR: I think it was a fantastic race for Formula One and could be the best GP of the year soon. The only concern with such tracks is safety and it is very important that no compromises are made. Singapore was generally quite safe but even so, they need to make a few improvements for next year.

Q: After your second place, what do you expect for Japan?

NR: If it rains we have a very good chance of doing well as our car has strong pace in the wet. So I hope it rains a lot. Last year we qualified sixth with a lot of fuel.

Q: Williams at the moment hold P8 in the constructors’ championship - five points behind Toro Rosso in sixth place. Will the team be able to make up some places before the end of the year?

NR: We are definitely going to give it our best shot. It would be great if we could challenge both STR and Red Bull.

Q: And you’ll need a bit more practice dropping the champagne bottle to your mechanics…

NR: Why do you say that? It worked fine! But more top results are very welcome.

Q: How have you spent your time between Singapore and Fuji?

NR: I went to Bali on a training camp, which was very nice, and I caught up on some surfing too.

GPF1 Japan 2008 :

Japanese GP Practice (10/10/08) :

Clear conditions in the region today allowed Mount Fuji to provide a stunning back-drop for Formula One’s practice sessions in advance of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. In only the second visit to the prefecture for the sport, AT&T Williams carried out the usual set-up work on Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima’s FW30s. On his Fuji debut in a Formula One car, Kazuki finished both sessions in the top ten in front of his home crowd, while Nico concluded the morning in P12 and the afternoon in P13.

Nico Rosberg:"It’s definitely going to be more difficult here than it was in Singapore for us. It was quite hard out there this morning in particular. We struggled with a slight lack of grip on the rear of the car and some oversteer, but we made good progress over the course of the two sessions and we ended this afternoon in a better position."

on Saturday...

The grey skies and rain showers of this morning cleared to deliver dry conditions for qualifying for tomorrow’s second Japanese Grand Prix to be held at the 4.5km Fuji Speedway. Unfortunately, neither AT&T Williams driver was able to translate some promising form shown in practice into a place in the top ten, however. For his first home Grand Prix, Kazuki Nakajima will start from P14, one step ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg who will line up in 15th.

Nico Rosberg:"It wasn’t very nice to qualify 15th today, especially having come from Singapore where I finished on the podium, but that’s the reality. We’ve struggled a bit this weekend, but we were expecting to be less competitive here as we just seem to be missing something on these types of circuits. I’m keeping my expectations for the race in check, particularly if it stays dry, but we could have a better chance of doing well if it rains. I’m happy with my qualifying lap though, and Kazuki’s been doing a really good job all weekend. He’s been a little bit quicker than me and I’m pleased for him as he’s in front of his home crowd. But this weekend isn’t over yet; we’ll see what tomorrow brings."

on sunday...

AT&T Williams brought both FW30s home in today’s Japanese Grand Prix but were unable to add any points to the team’s Constructors’ total. Nico Rosberg lost position at the start, but a one stop strategy, combined with some assertive overtaking manoeuvres, elevated him to P11. Kazuki Nakajima suffered a disappointing Formula One debut in front of his home crowd. Caught up in a first corner incident, a subsequent unscheduled stop relegated him to the back of the field from where he was unable to recover position putting him in fifteenth place at the end of the race.

Nico Rosberg:"Our start was poor due to a technical problem so I just fell to the back of the pack. I was also quite heavy with fuel. I’m satisfied with my performance and it was actually good fun out there today. I was able to overtake in the first part of the race and to drive one qualifying lap after another the whole way through. I gave it 100% and was as quick as Heidfeld, who was on the same strategy. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to score any points, though. I’m flying to Shanghai tomorrow and looking forward to collecting some points there."