Rosberg learned from Bahrain error
ByAutoSport
Published 09/05/2015 at 14:31 GMT
Nico Rosberg has conceded his slack qualifying performance in Bahrain provided the spur to grab his first pole position of the Formula 1 season in Spain.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Rosberg ended Hamilton's run of four successive poles to start the year with a lap of 1m24.681s at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, beating the 30-year-old by 0.267secs.
At a point in the season when Rosberg appeared to have run out of ideas on how to beat Hamilton, the German finally managed to make his Mercedes team-mate second best.
It was a response to his poor display in Bahrain three weeks ago when Rosberg admitted to poor strategy in Q2 by focusing too much on the race, so heading into Q3 with a lack of rhythm.
"Bahrain was still on my mind," Rosberg admitted after taking pole in Spain.
"I wanted to make sure I didn't make that mistake again, so I got myself in the rhythm in Q2 and it worked very well for me today."
Asked whether his qualifying performance was much needed, he replied: "I needed it sooner rather than later.
"It's one step in the right direction to winning the race this weekend, a good day in the office.
"With overtaking difficult here starting in front is a particularly big advantage."
Despite playing second fiddle to Hamilton virtually all season, Rosberg downplayed any psychological lift he might have gained on this occasion.
"It [pole] is just important for tomorrow's race," added Rosberg. "It's better to start first than second, that's obvious.
"It's good, it's great, I feel happy, so it's good for tomorrow.
"And there will be no different mindset for the race. It's the same thing, I try to go for it, go for the best possible result.
"With the car I have it will be to try and go for the win, and take the advantage of starting first."
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