Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg is delighted after claiming his second win of the season in Bahrain, and extending his championship lead to 17 points over teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Rosberg, with 16 grand prix victories, now has the most number of grand prix wins for a driver who is not a world champion alongside Sir Stirling Moss. However, every driver to win five consecutive races in the history of the sport has gone on to win the world championship in the season the streak ended.
“Wow, what a weekend! I am so happy with how everything is working out at the moment,” the German said. “The start was definitely the key to my win – and that was a really great moment, as it was an area that we put a lot of effort into before the race.”
Rosberg got a better start than Hamilton on the front row and was able to escape the chaos behind him.
“Leading into Turn One was a relief, to be honest, as I could see in my mirrors that it was very busy behind me,” Rosberg continued. “But from then on I was able to control the pact and take the win. Strategy-wise we had to play it safe. It maybe wasn’t the quickest option – but we had to cover the risk of a safety car.
“It was an almost perfect weekend for me – only qualifying could have been a fraction better. What a great start to the season – a big thank you to the guys and girls at the factories for this amazing car! Now I look forward to China, where I won my first ever Grand Prix, so I have plenty of positive energy heading there.”
A win in China would see Rosberg become only the fourth driver in history behind Sebastian Vettel, Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher to claim six consecutive race wins.
