Although Nico Rosberg topped the timing screens at the end of FP2, on the opening day of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, he believes his Mercedes team have work to do to retain the advantage.
Last year Mercedes were mysteriously out of sorts at Marina Bay Circuit, and this year they return to the venue wanting to make amends.
Rosberg told media in Singapore at the end of the first evening, “We know that this is the best track for Red Bull and Ferrari, so we have to be careful and do the best we can. We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves because last year on Friday we looked okay and on Saturday we were nowhere.”
Mercedes appear to have outright pace around the tricky venue which caught the German out in FP1 when he crunched into the wall at Turn 18.
He said of the incident in the opening practice session, “Just braked too deep and locked up and that’s it. In general the day has been okay, it’s been a decent start to the weekend.”
Race pace is where Rosberg believes his rivals may be closer or even have an edge, “We can see what they were doing and for sure they were quick, both Red Bull and Ferrari, also in the long runs. We sure have work to do.”
“We think more or less we understand the situation, but we thought that as well last year and in the end we have to concentrate on ourselves and maximise what we’ve got.
“Let’s wait and see, we definitely need to keep on working and getting the most out of it for tomorrow and hope that’s going to be enough to give Red Bull and Ferrari a run for their money.
“[Pole position] will definitely be important even though we’ve seen in recent races that it’s not the most crucial thing, Definitely that’s what I’ll try and aim for,” added Rosberg who trails teammate Lewis Hamilton at the top of the F1 world championship standings by a mere two points.