Rosberg content to avoid pole

04 July 2015 05:32

Nico Rosberg hopes the hand of history will help him beat Lewis Hamilton to the top step on the podium in Sunday's British Grand Prix.

Rosberg will start behind Hamilton after the Briton delighted a 110,000-strong crowd at Silverstone by claiming his eighth pole from nine races this year.

Hamilton, who leads Rosberg by 10 points in the championship heading into his home race, was 0.113 seconds faster than his Mercedes team-mate on Saturday.

But bizarrely only four of the last 20 pole-sitters have won the British Grand Prix.

And on the two occasions Hamilton has triumphed at Silverstone - in his second campaign in 2008, and again last year - it hasn't been from the front of the grid.

Indeed Hamilton started from pole here in his debut season and again in 2013, but finished third and fourth respectively.

Informed of the statistic in his post-qualifying media briefing, Rosberg said: "That is incredible and that is why I was quite happy not to be on pole today."

With a broad grin on his face, Rosberg, who celebrated his 30th birthday earlier this week, added: "I know those statistics and the chances are much bigger to win the race from second so I am quite pleased with that today."

Hamilton secured his third pole at Silverstone in his first outing of the top-10 shootout. Neither he nor Rosberg improved on their laps in their final runs.

"The first lap was really good, so I was sure that I would be ahead of Lewis and I was disappointed to see that he was one tenth ahead of me," said Rosberg.

But the German, who was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday, remains confident he can upset the home crowd on Sunday.

"This weekend was one of the biggest differences in terms of long-run pace over a practice session on Friday," he said.

"Lewis was struggling quite a lot there so that is another hope that I have. It could be another thing which helps me tomorrow."

Hamilton, who joined Rosberg in front of thousands of fans on Silverstone's Main Stage on Saturday evening, said: "I've been very fortunate to have had those two wins here and the support has been incredible every year.

"It's the banners that are out there, it's the flags, it's the team caps, it's the messages that get sent every day through social media.

"I was replying to some just before qualifying and they just really create the atmosphere and that buzz.

"W hen I'm about to start my lap or when I finish my lap, looking out of the corner of your eye and you know those guys are there, they're right behind you, so I hope that that wave of energy that they give will help to carry us tomorrow."

Source: PA