Nico Rosberg finally clinched his first pole position of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday, ending his Mercedes teammate lewis Hamilton’s bid for a fifth consecutive qualifying win. Rosberg had the fastest time in two of the three practice sessions this weekend, and continued that form with a dynamic drive in qualifying. The German finished 0.267 seconds clear of Hamilton and 0.777 ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
“Awesome, thanks guys” Rosberg told his team over the race radio and gave both thumbs up as he climbed out of his car. His previous pole came at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP last year. His last victory came at the previous race, at the Brazilian GP, where he started from pole. Of the past 24 races held at the Catalunya track, 18 have been won from pole - a fact not lost on Hamilton, who won here last year after starting up front.
Rosberg drove aggressively from the outset, even beating Hamilton’s pole position time from last year in the third practice run. Vettel, who beat Hamilton in Malaysia, will need a strong performance to challenge the Mercedes. The last Spanish driver to win here was Fernando Alonso two years ago, but he has little chance of even a podium after qualifying down in 13th ahead of Mclaren teammate Jenson Button.
Contract extended till 2019
The Catalunya circuit will continue to host races until 2019 after signing a three-year contract extension. The track is also used for pre-season testing will host its 25th race this weekend.
2016 German GP confirmed
Berlin: The MD of the Hockenheim motor racing venue has insisted the 2016 German Grand Prix is ‘1000 percent’ certain to take place there after this year’s race was cancelled. For the first time since 1960 there was no German Grand Prix this year because of contractual problems with the Nuerburgring venue, which shares hosting the race with Hockenheim. But tickets for the 2016 Grand Prix at Hockenheim have already been on sale and venue manager Georg Seiler told SID he is certain next year’s race will take place.