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Abu Dhabi GP: Post Qualifying press conference

NEWS STORY
22/11/2014

Nico, three poles in a row now at the end of the season and I guess you have the vital advantage going into tomorrow's grand prix. How do you feel about that?
Nico Rosberg: Yeah, it was a great day again today I'm sure. I'm thankful to the engineers and everything, because [they] did a good job, sorted out the car, you know, I was really happy with the set-up. It all worked out well. I got a good lap together in the end; I'm pleased with that. But, of course, it's only one step, a very small step, because this weekend it's about the championship, not about pole position or anything. Of course, I was hoping, you know, who knows... Valtteri said he got his perfect lap together, so there wasn't anything else in that. Of course it would have been great if somehow there could have been a Williams between the two of us, but that can always happen tomorrow. For sure, starting first is a great place to be and it should be a good start.

I guess the crucial question is how are you going to play the first corner tomorrow?
NR: Yes, that's going to be interesting, as always. But I'm on the clean side I think, I'm not sure. Maybe none of them are realty clean, not sure, but anyways I have the advantage from pole, so that should be OK.

Lewis, is it the case that the driver who made the fewest mistakes eventually came out on top at the end?
Lewis Hamilton: I don't know. I don't know how many mistakes Nico made but I generally didn't have the best of laps but it was still a really good qualifying session, I really enjoyed it. The car was fantastic. So, as Nico was saying, tomorrow is the special day.

Does it matter? At the end of the day you only need to finish second to win the title but how are you going to approach it tomorrow and again the same questions as to Nico, how will you approach that first corner?
LH: Same as every time.

OK, let's move on to Valtteri. Valtteri, well done, another top three. Do you think you're fast enough to mix it with the two Mercedes drivers in tomorrow's grand prix?
Valtteri Bottas: Thanks, yeah, it was a nice quali and especially the lap in the end, the car felt pretty good and I got a really good lap in the end. That felt nice because Felipe was really quick today as well, so it was not easy to beat him. Yeah, it's good to be third and fourth again. I think in the race, as we've seen before, Mercedes is normally having a bit more advantage on Sundays than Saturdays, so it could be difficult, but for us the main target is to finish as high as possible and if something is going to happen and if we have the pace there is no doubt we are going to try to move forward.

And what are you going to do into the first corner tomorrow?
VB: Same as usual really, just trying to gain any positions if there are possibilities but in the end the race is never won in the first corner, so that's good to remember. So this race is no different to any other for me.

Back to you Nico, a unique situation tomorrow, double points on offer for the first time. Your thoughts going into the race, and your mindset?
NR: Well, the mindset is that I need to get the job done and continue on the sort of form that I had in Brazil in the race. I'm sure it's going to be a great battle between the two of us. Of course I hope for more than that - not just the win but some sort of help from Lewis, or anything, I don't know... I mean I offered Valtteri... I'm paying [for] a wellness night [for him] tonight, a spa session, all-inclusive, hoping that he can be in extra special form and do the impossible tomorrow.

Press Conference

Nico, you came here wanting pole position, you've done it. Just tell us what kind of statement you think your qualifying has made this year.
NR: Of course yes, qualifying was one of the strengths this year but that's only... it's not even half of it on a weekend, just the first step into every race weekend. It's Sunday that counts and that's where I've looked to improve a little bit recently, like in Interlagos for example where I managed to do the step - and that's what I need to do again tomorrow.

Lewis, in a similar situation in Austin, you tried to pass and pulled it off spectacularly; in Brazil you didn't get a chance to try the pass. Which of those is it going to be tomorrow?
LH: I don't know. We'll see.

What are your feelings though in terms of the way you're going to conduct the race? Are you going to...
LH: Same as always.

Valtteri, the 12th top three qualifying this season for Williams. It was a difficult start to this weekend for the Williams team, particularly in free practice one. Tell us about how you built up the speed this weekend.
VB: Well yeah, we only really had one real issue this weekend, it was the thing with the bodywork. We tried something different, it failed but it's good we tried it in Practice One. It was no drama, everything was all set for Practice Two and everything went into the plan. And yeah, Practice Three the car felt OK but we still knew that adjusting some things we could get more out of it for qualifying and still not compromising the set-up for the race, so pretty normal weekend. Normally Friday we'd not be looking so good so pretty normal weekend so far for us. We've done a solid job but, like always, it's tomorrow that really matters.

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