Mercedes AMG PETRONAS driver Nico Rosberg was delighted with a dominate win on the streets of Singapore, and the German driver now leads the Championship ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton by eight points with six races to go.
“That was a fantastic weekend! In the past the Singapore track has not treated me so well, so this win is a very special one and an even more emotional one for me.”
Rosberg led from the front and was relatively unchallenged throughout the race until Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo closed on him in the closing laps but could not overtake the German.
“The weekend started perfectly with a good qualifying session. Then, I had a good start and was able to keep the Red Bulls and the Ferraris behind me – both of which had beaten us comfortably last year. It was a bit tight at the end after Daniel (Ricciardo) did a clever pit stop timing wise.”
The Marina Bay street circuit is one of the toughest circuits on the calendar, but Rosberg handled the heat and challenging corners extremely well to record his eighth win of the season.
Mercedes struggled in Singapore last year but a clever strategy and strong downforce package allowed Rosberg to dominate once again.
“If I would have also pitted I would have come out behind him because I was stuck in traffic on my in-lap, so we chose the best strategy to stay out and a big thanks to the team for that. It’s great that we learned from our mistakes last year and won at what is clearly a Red Bull track.”
The next race is Malaysia with Rosberg on course to win his first Championship but anything can happen in the final flyaway races.
“I look forward to Malaysia now – but first I will definitely celebrate this win tonight!”
