Formula One news

Rosberg hoping to feature more

The Williams team has suffered a tough start to the 2009 championship; despite much speed and potential over race weekends, qualifying sessions have proven to finish in disappointing fashion with races more so. Nico Rosberg, fastest in seven of twelve free practices so far, currently lies eleventh in the standings with three and a half points.

"It's been a bit of a frustrating start to the season," the 23-year-old German admitted. "We should be going into Europe with more than 3.5 points from the first four races. We were looking competitive at the outset in Australia, but things just haven't gone our way. It's also so close out there, probably the closest season I've raced in. We'll have some aero upgrades for Barcelona which I'm hoping will help us and push us further up the grid. It would be good to score some points to reward the team at Grove, who have been pushing really hard." The high of Nico's season so far came in Malaysia, when a superb start saw him propelled from fourth on the grid to the lead of the race by Turn 1.

"It's been a long trip so I'll be resting a bit between the usual training I do before races," he continued, having completed the first four Grands Prix in just five weeks. "I also have lots of personal things to do as I haven't been home for six weeks and that will definitely include catching up with friends and family."

Much pre-season running takes place in Catalonia

Round five of the championship sees Formula One race in Europe for the first time this year, as the Circuit de Catalunya hosts its annual stop; the event, as it has been since 2007, will be the first to feature the teams' major upgrades for the European season. "As we spend quite a lot of time testing at Barcelona, it's a circuit we all know well," Rosberg explained. "Last year was going really well for me and I was looking good for 6th place, but then a technical problem put me out of the race. The only concern with Barcelona is that track conditions are constantly changing, so knowing what direction to go with the setup can prove hard.

"With the new rule changes (no in-season testing), this year really is all about who makes the greatest progress back at the factories with development. As with all the other teams, we'll have an upgraded car in Spain and I hope it will make the difference we need."

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• 26 Nov.
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• 25 Nov.
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• 24 Nov.
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• 23 Nov.
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