Apr.22 (GMM) He is not giving up yet, but Nico Rosberg admits he could not hide his bad mood in Bahrain.
A bad qualifying session left him six tenths behind teammate Lewis Hamilton, but German Rosberg appeared to have returned to top form on Sunday with a fighting race punctuated by overtaking moves on Ferraris.
Ultimately, however, he finished third due to a brake problem, when Kimi Raikkonen passed him.
“I can’t buy much with third place,” Rosberg wrote in a column for Bild newspaper early this week.
“I don’t even care if it’s Kimi or Seb (Vettel) overtaking me, and the distance to Lewis in the world championship has unfortunately also grown.
“Fortunately, the season is still very long,” he added.
Nonetheless, his body language on the podium was obvious, and Rosberg does not even deny his foul mood.
“I can’t always hide my disappointment,” he admitted. “Maybe I’m just nod a good actor. It’s just who I am.”
Rosberg says he has now returned to his home in Monaco.
“I flew home immediately and was there the next morning. When I saw my wife – who is now almost one-and-a-half women – the frustration was gone.
“Thank god Vivian is now much better after the first few months of pregnancy,” he explained, “as she was constantly so sick.
“Now I want to be home for a while before Barcelona, catching up on some sleep to recover from the long journeys at the start of the season.”
Finally, Rosberg denied reports that teammate Hamilton’s new contract might be delayed because the Mercedes driver is demanding clear number 1 status.
“That will not happen,” the German is quoted by F1’s official website.
“In my contract it is written that the team follows a philosophy of two completely equal drivers.”