Nico Rosberg: “I knew it was going to be a bit difficult…”

Nico Rosberg was one of several drivers to find himself struggling for grip in qualifying in Austin having shown good pace earlier in the weekend.

Rosberg qualified only 14^th, although penalties for Esteban Gutierrez and Jenson Button have gifted him two places.

“It was a very unusual day,” said Rosberg. “Very hard tyres and very cold conditions and very smooth asphalt. The combination of all those three meant the tyres weren’t gripping properly and they weren’t working properly, and that’s why there’s surprises. If the car works the tyre better then even if it’s fundamentally a slower car you get so much more grip from the tyre itself, and that’s why you are able to go really quick. And that’s why there are surprised like Sauber and Williams being very far up the grid and beating me.”

Rosberg said life was made harder because the Mercedes was set-up to protect the tyres in the race.

“I knew it was going to be a bit difficult, the qualifying. The problem is that tomorrow is supposed to be very hot, and we have to try and do a one-stop to make it happen tomorrow in the race. So I couldn’t really afford to do much to work the tyres more in qualifying, but anyway I got caught out, because it was a lot colder than predicted in qualifying, and I didn’t expect to be that far down the grid.”