Mercedes GP boss Ross Brawn says that he was entertained by a "lively" fight between his drivers on the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi GP, as Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher fought wheel-to-wheel at the Yas Marina track.
The two Mercedes drivers enjoyed a side-by-side fight around much of the opening lap, after Rosberg had dropped back behind Schumacher when he was forced wide at the first corner.The two Germans fought for position around the opening lap before Rosberg finally made the pass stick to claim sixth place on the road, demoting Schumacher to seventh.
Both Mercedes men eventually came home in those same positions.
And Brawn said that he had been entertained by the sight of his drivers fighting it out side-by-side, saying that the team remains happy to see them race.
"A very lively first lap between our drivers today which was highly entertaining," Brawn rambled after the race, "We've often said that they are free to race as long as they keep it sensible, and it was good to see today."
He added: "Our performance today reminds us of the little bit that we have to close down to become truly competitive, but it is within reach.
"Both Nico and Michael drove extremely well, and with good pit stops and a sound strategy, we achieved possibly the best results that we can at the moment."
Rosberg himself added that he had enjoyed the "fun battle" with Schumacher, but added that late grip issues with his harder tyres had prevented him from fighting for a better position.
"It was an interesting race for me today," he mused, "The start didn't work out very well as I tried to overtake Felipe but suddenly there was no space left. Michael was able to overtake me, and we had a fun battle before I took the place back."
"With the prime tyres, I had some understeer which made it impossible to overtake Felipe [Massa] towards the end."
Schumacher added: "A reasonable race today and some reasonable points I would say. Considering that we did not manage to find the perfect balance yesterday, we managed to get the maximum out of our situation today.
"The tyres gave up rather early in the first stint but that was due to our tyre strategy yesterday when we wanted to save a fresh set for the race.
"I therefore had quite used tyres for the start. We now have to look into the data and make sure we are well prepared for the last race of the season which we want to finish as well as possible."
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
