Nico Rosberg: “I think it’s very normal to have doubts…”

Nico Rosberg says he’s keen to do well at Silverstone as it’s the home race of both the Mercedes race team and its engine department– and he also wants to attack the gap to title rival Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg admits that he’s on a roll at the moment, and he wants that to continue as he chases down points leader Hamilton.

“It’s important for me to keep closing the gap to him,” he said at Silverstone. “And of course I’m going to try and do it here. It’s a good period for me in the season now, and I want to try and keep that going. He’s still 10 points ahead, and I need to keep digging at that way very quickly. Ten points is nothing if you look at the length of the season, so the chances are really good.

“It’s a little bit different for me as well, because I know how important it is for all my team colleagues. That means a lot to me, and I know that one of the best ways for me to give something back to them or say thank you for an amazing car that they built is to do a one-two here. A lot of their families will be here, and I’m very aware of that, so that makes it a special weekend.

“We were in the engine factory this morning, there were 400 or 500 people there, I’m not sure how many, and it was very obvious how excited they were about the weekend.”

Meanwhile Rosberg said that his Austrian GP win was an important step for him.

“It was a great weekend for me, for sure yes, especially because it was one of those that was not so difficult. And that was great to see, to really just be quicker in the race all the way through was cool. And especially it was great because that was the area where I needed to slightly work on after last year, race craft, and I made a nice step there. That’s been important for me to see.”

However he said he’s not been doing anything different relative to the start of the year to generate his recent success: “Unfortunately nothing, it’s just the way sport is. Sport goes in waves, and that’s the best explanation I have got it.”

He had an interesting response when asked if he faced any self doubts when times were hard.

“Doubt is always a part of it, but I’ve learned to always keep believing and push through and overcome the doubt. I think it’s very normal to have doubts. I think all of you have doubts that you are going to be able to deliver a great story this weekend, but you keep believing, and you push through, and you bang one out anyways, and do better than anybody else.”