Nico Rosberg will be gunning for his fifth Formula One race victory in 2016 as he prepares for the Spanish Grannd Prix race on Sunday. However, Rosberg will start the race from second position in the grid as his team mate Lewis Hamilton took pole during qualifying on Saturday.
Defending champion Hamilton has not had a great start this season, and is 43 points adrift of Rosberg in the drivers' standings. The British driver can close the gap with the Spanish Grand Prix triumph.
Hamilton has had to suffer engine failures this season, which has troubled the driver, but he is now confident with his car ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. Hamilton has thanked people working in the garage with his car.
"Firstly, I really want to say a big thank you to all the time, all the guys back at the factory, for working so hard over the past two weeks to try to rectify the issues we've had. The car was great. Yesterday was a bit of a difficult day, so to be able to start on the right foot today is a real blessing," F1 official website quoted Hamilton as saying.
With Hamilton and his improved car, one could see a tough battle for the first position in the Spanish Grand Prix. The Mercedes drivers will be keen to outdo each other, and win the prestigious race. Rosberg, who has been consistent so far in the F1 season, will want to take any opportunity that comes his way on Sunday, to win the race.
"I'm disappointed to be second, yeah. I wanted to be first today, of course. But Lewis was just quicker in qualifying today and that's it. Fortunately, it's the race that counts so there are still a couple of opportunities tomorrow for sure. at the start for example. And then strategy-wise it's not going to be an easy race tomorrow, so I'll try and take my chances there," Rosberg said.
The focus, without a shadow of doubt, will be on the two Mercedes' drivers, but they also need to be careful of Daniel Ricciardo, who will start from the third position. The Red Bull driver drove beautifully in the qualifying session to grab the third spot, ahead of the Ferrari drivers.
Besides Ricciardo, his teammate Max Verstappen also shone, clinching the fourth spot. So, Red Bull will fancy their chances for a podium finish.
"I think happy to be in front of both Ferraris as well, both of us. Max obviously was doing really good. We're both on the second row, that's pretty awesome. Yeah, we chipped away it, but it took a bit of time to come," Ricciardo said.
But, Ricciardo and Verstappen will be strongly tested by Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel in the Spanish Grand Prix. Other teams like Force India, Williams and Toro Rosso will be keen to accumulate good points on Sunday.
Where to watch live
The race is scheduled for 2 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST, 7 a.m. EST on Sunday.
Country | TV Broadcaster |
India | Star Sports 4, Star Sports HD 4 |
US | NBC Sports |
Canada | TSN 2 |
United Kingdom | Sky Sports F1 |
Middle East and North Africa | Bein Sports Arabia |
Germany, Italy | Sky Sport |
France | Canal+ |
Asia | Fox Sports |
Country | Online links |
India | Star Sports Online |
US | NBC Sports Online |
UK | Watch Sky Sports |
Middle East | BeIN Sports Connect |
Asia | Fox Sports Online |
Italy | Sky Go Italy |
Germany | Sky Go Germany |