Nico Rosberg feels his Mercedes AMG PETRONAS team are in a much stronger position than they were at the Marina Bay Street Circuit a year ago after ending the day with the quickest time.
The German recovered from a first practice visit to the turn eighteen wall that broke his front wing and gave the Mercedes driver a puncture to set a time of 1:44.152 in the second session, 0.275 seconds clear of his nearest challenger Kimi Raikkonen.
Rosberg believes that Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Ferrari and themselves looks to be a close battle throughout the weekend on a track where the team have only taken one podium finish since they returned to Formula 1 back in 2010.
“It’s been a solid start to the weekend,” revealed Rosberg. “Definitely better than last year.
“The first session was going okay until I hit the wall at Turn 18. That wasn’t ideal – but luckily the impact wasn’t too heavy, so I managed to get the car back to the pits and the guys had it ready in time for FP2.
“The second session felt better but we still have some room for improvement. It’s really close between ourselves, Red Bull and Ferrari – much closer than at some other tracks for sure – so it looks like a big battle ahead. I’m looking forward to it.”
