>Niko Rosberg

Nico Rosberg after the first Indian Qualifying: “We could have done better today, but on my final hot lap, I had to ease off because of the yellow flags that came out for Felipe’s crash. I was only shown yellow after I’d passed the spot, but I decided to lift anyway. Otherwise, I might have qualified higher than seventh. The car worked well, I felt comfortable with it and I was able to keep pushing. We did a lot of work in free practice on getting the setup right for the race itself, so I’m confident in this respect. I’m intending to attack tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll be giving some of the drivers ahead of me a hard time.”

Nico Rosberg about the new Buddh International Circuit: “This has been a very good start to the race weekend here in India. We carried out some useful tests in free practice and our preparations for Sunday are going well. The track is really great and is a credit to the designers and builders. There are some fabulous corners and the layout offers plenty of variety. At turn two, there is a sharp rise; you’re looking up into the sky and you don’t see the hairpin before you’re entering it. The Buddh International Circuit has certain similarities with Korea, but it also has its own unique features.”
Gallery!

Nico Rosberg was in New Delhi for a sightseeing trip this wednesday. A rickshaw drive, visiting the Spice Market and the India Gate – all this was very impressive for Nico. He said: “A fantastic experience!” Watch out the video!

Watch Nico Rosberg in his latest video blog for his Facebook and Twitter-Followers. Race analysis after P8 at the Korean GP 2011: “My tyre was completely square.”

Nico Rosberg after P7 in Qualifying in Korea: “I’m quite pleased with today. To find the right set-up for the qualifying and the race is always a compromise, particularly after such limited dry running, so I’m happy that we saved one set of option tyres. It will be tough to catch one of the top six drivers tomorrow but hopefully I’ll have a good start and may be able to gain a position there. It will be an interesting race from the tyre perspective with a lot of stops, and I’m confident that our boys will do a great job in the pits again.”

Nico Rosberg after Practise I+II: “I was feeling very comfortable on the intermediate tyres this afternoon, and we tried some different set-up options which worked out quite well. My car was running well in the conditions we had today, but the weather is expected to change for Saturday and Sunday, so it will be interesting to see how it works out tomorrow. The collision was a tricky situation and unfortunately brought my session to an early conclusion but at least I didn’t miss out on any dry running. Of course, a crash like that in practice isn’t exactly what you would wish for. I thought Jaime Alguersuari would wait until I was through, but then I saw him coming, and it was too late to prevent contact. Unfortunately, my car was slightly damaged in the process.”

Nico Rosberg: “The drivers’ championship has been decided, but there is still plenty of exciting racing to come. Red Bull have performed very strongly this season and Sebastian has driven superbly, so together they were an almost unbeatable combination. Next year, we intend to close the gap on Red Bull Racing and the other top teams. I’m optimistic that we will be stronger in 2012. My personal goal for the rest of the year is to put in as many good races as possible. After a rather mediocre race in Suzuka last weekend, I want to go back on the attack again, get the most out of the car and come away with a good result. We have some new parts in our luggage for the Korean Grand Prix, but nothing that will have a major impact on performance.”

Watch Nico Rosberg´s latest Video Blog on YouTube after a complicated weekend in Suzuka. Nico startet from the end of the grit and finished tenth!

Nico Rosberg: “Qualifying didn’t exactly go to plan today. When I went out on track, the team informed me that I had a hydraulic problem. I hadn’t actually noticed myself that there was anything wrong, but I was told that I shouldn’t even
change gear because that would just cause more damage. When I returned to the pits, the engineers tried to sort out the problem. But unfortunately, faults in the hydraulic system aren’t all that easy to fix, which meant I wasn’t able to get back out onto the track. A pity really, because starting from the back of the grid is far from ideal. Even so, I’m hoping to finish in the points tomorrow. I’ll certainly be giving it everything I’ve got as usual.”

Nico Rosberg took delivery of a new pair of custom designed shoes at Suzuka on Thursday as the Mercedes GP star was presented with the winning entry from Alpinestars’ recent design contest.
The competition received more than a hundred entries ranging from the surreal to the spectacular, and in the end Nico chose a simple yet striking design to take with him around the fabled Suzuka circuit this weekend.
As he gears up to race in the land of the rising sun, an over the moon Nico was enthusiastic about his new kicks, saying “it´s a great design, I´m really happy with it!”, before adding, “thanks everybody for sending your designs to Alpinestars, I can’t to wear the boots this weekend. Let´s see how quick they are!”
The winner of the design competition was Jason Pooley from the United Kingdom, who upon hearing the exciting news that Nico chose his design out of the scores of entries, explained “I’ve followed F1 since the age of four so I’m a huge fan and have a lot of respect for Nico. I can’t wait to see him wearing the shoes in Japan and hope they give him some good luck for the race!”
Elaborating on his winning design, Jason said “the inspiration for the shoe design was mainly from Nico’s newly designed crash helmet. I tried not to over complicate the design because I wanted them to be quite simple and stylish and something that you could imagine him wearing.”
Coming off a strong showing in Singapore where he finished seventh, Nico is primed for another good performance at Suzuka and equipped with his customized racing shoes, the gifted German’s preparations for Sunday’s race have undoubtedly got off on the right foot.