Nico Rosberg was extremely happy with his fourth pole position of the season and the nineteenth of his career in a treacherous qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday morning.
The Mercedes AMG PETRONAS set the pace in Q2 that ultimately decided the final grid when Q3 was cancelled due to the worsening weather, with Rosberg especially happy to secure top spot when he was using used tyres during the session, with the German hoping to use his final new set in Q3.
“I’m very happy with that pole – especially as I did my quickest lap on used tyres,” said Rosberg, who beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pole by 0.105s.
“I wanted to be prepared for Q3 with a new set of full wets but, of course, that opportunity never came up as the rain increased suddenly and they had to abandon qualifying.
“It was very tricky out there with a lot of water on the track, so let’s see what happens this afternoon with the weather. The car feels very strong and I’m feeling great around here in any conditions, so I really look forward to the race.”
