Nico Rosberg: 'Lewis Hamilton just did a lot better'

Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg admits that Mercedes teammate and Malaysian Grand Prix pole sitter Lewis Hamilton was simply the better driver today, after qualifying half a second behind him in third position.

Qualifying was supposed to be a two-horse race between Hamilton and Rosberg, until rain hit the track during the first part of Q2. With a wet and damp track in store, Hamilton managed to put his W06 Hybrid on pole position by a whisker, while Rosberg could only set the third fastest time of the day.

“I just didn't drive well enough, so that's why I am annoyed by that. Third place is not good for tomorrow but that's the way it is,’’ Rosberg said after qualifying.“Lewis just did a lot better than the rest of us. Sebastian [Vettel] and I were miles off. Sebastian was far off me [at that point too]. It is a matter of finding a way and things like that.

He just did a quite impressive first lap there.”

Rosberg complained that he took too much life out of his tyre earlier on, meaning he had little pace on his final run.

“The problem also was we didn't get our strategy completely right because we didn't have our tyres at their best by the time we did that second lap in that second run.We used up the tyres just cruising round because there was so much grip out there and that was why Sebastian was relatively quick at the end there compared to us.

“He just did the strategy right and nailed it. He did a good job, of course, but that explains some of why we were down. Both Lewis and I were beaten by him on that lap at the end.”

Asked whether Mercedes would enjoy a comfortable advantage over Ferrari in dry conditions tomorrow, Rosberg replied: “Comfortable? No, they[Ferrari] are right there. We definitely need to be at our best, but I am still confident we have an advantage over them and we are still the best. But they are coming at us,” Rosberg added.