Bahrain: Hamilton hopes for a battle with Rosberg for the victory

As the team approached the qualifying session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the scales within the Mercedes team, which was almost assured that one of its cars would clinch pole position, tipped in favor of Lewis Hamilton, who had secured two poles since the start of the season and finished first in all three practice sessions.

But ultimately, it’s Nico Rosberg who clinched the top spot, marking the 5th pole of his career and the 20th in Mercedes’ history. However, this doesn’t upset Hamilton, who shows good sportsmanship: « I’m happy for Nico, as he’s worked hard all weekend and just did a better job today. It seems he felt more and more comfortable in the car over the weekend, and for me, it was a bit the opposite. »

« Even if the results of the free practice sessions placed me first, I think he was faster than me in those sessions too, » he explains, before adding: « Despite everything, we are both on the front row and it’s going to be an interesting race. I hope I can do better. »

The 2008 World Champion describes his Q3: « Well, my first lap was OK, it wasn’t too bad, but on the second one I had a big problem at turn 1 and had no chance of recovering from that mistake. » This big problem was a significant front-right wheel lock-up, in an area that poses problems for the Briton: « In each session, I lost a tenth and a half from the exit of turn 1 to turn 2, and I need to find out why with the data. »

When asked how he feels when he sees the Mercedes fighting amongst themselves, far from the others, he shares: « It’s an incredible feeling. I really don’t know what to say except that it’s great to see what the guys can do. They work so hard to give Nico and me the car that gives us the chance to fight for victory at every race. »

But then, what could prevent a Mercedes from winning this Sunday? « To be honest, I haven’t really looked around me: I focused on my job. I don’t know. Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez form the second row now, we’ll see what happens. »

Should he take the advantage from the start to hope to win? « It would help a lot. [Nico Rosberg] has great pace and has learned a lot from the weekend in Malaysia. So the gap here won’t be as significant as it might have been there – if there is one – and I have to try to find something new. »

He is hoping for a summit battle to claim victory: « I hope we will have the chance to fight for victory. We have slight differences in our car setups, and Nico has always raced well here – he was the fastest last year – but the gap is a little smaller. That’s what I’m taking positively from today. »