Nico Rosberg was unable to match the pace of team-mate Lewis Hamilton during Friday’s free practice sessions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, ending up second fastest, 0.331 seconds behind in first practice, and then 0.526 seconds back in the second.
The Mercedes AMG PETRONAS driver was relegated to third fastest during the second practice behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, and felt he was losing time in the first sector compared to his rivals, which he attributes to possibly failing to get enough temperature into his Ultrasoft Pirelli tyres.
Rosberg revealed that he would be looking into ways to improve his short run performance overnight in order to challenge for pole position during Saturday’s important qualifying session, although he does feel happier with how the car performs on longer runs.
“Generally I feel good in the car,” said Rosberg. “But getting the tyres working is not so straightforward here, so that needs some further analysis tonight.
“I lost most of my time in the first sector – possibly because of tyre temperatures. So, that part of the lap is the main area to work on and find some improvement for qualifying. The long runs have looked good so far, though.
“It’s been great to see so many spectators out there already today and I’m sure there will be an awesome atmosphere over the weekend.”
