Kerbs and asphalt make track “completely different” – Rosberg

2015 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Nico Rosberg says the Interlagos track feels very different to how it did 12 months ago.

Six new 50mm high kerbs have been added at turns two [Senna S], three [Curva do Sol], four and five [Descida do Lago], eight [Laranja] and ten [Bico de Pato]. However Rosberg said it isn’t just this which have made lap times slower.

“It’s always a challenge to adapt to a new circuit and especially this one which is completely different from how it was last year,” the 2014 race winner told reporters in Brazil.

“They’ve changed the kerbs so you can’t attack them in the same way. The asphalt has broken up a lot since last year because of the sports cars that have been here some months ago. So going to those corners where the asphalt is broken up you just lose all the grip.”

Rosberg headed the second practice session today but was 0.262 seconds off the quickest lap from the same session 12 months ago, despite car performance having improved in that time. “We have to be a bit creative today,” he explained, “find new lines and new ways of attacking the corners”.

Rosberg also suggested the gap between him and Lewis Hamilton, who was 0.458s slower in second practice – was not representative.

“The gap to Lewis was definitely not the real picture, because he got his engine settings wrong so there is a big lap time in that.”

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    4 comments on “Kerbs and asphalt make track “completely different” – Rosberg”

    1. Kerbs. Remember what they are drivers?! They’re there so that you don’t exceed track limits, although they’re not there on most tracks. We’ll done Interlagos, I love you even more now which I didn’t think was possible.

    2. The high kerb at turn two looks a bit incident-prone to me, I was amazed when I saw Massa took it and bouncing from it that hard. Can’t imagine lap 1 going safe.

      However, my mind is divided as it can force drivers to stay on the black stuff.

    3. That S-Duct on the WO6 looks simply awful. The pre-Brazil chassis was miles ahead on image. Hope they’ll remove it, find another way to gain those extra tenths. Better still, not get those tenths anyway! :P

      1. They’ve already taken it off. It’s likely another 2016 development that they’re running ahead of time because otherwise they wouldn’t have a reason to even run in the friday practice sessions…

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