Rosberg silences Vettel with team debrief invite
NO SECRETS German responds after Ferrari star casts doubts on Mercedes with call to open gates to garage
LONDON: Nico Rosberg has invited Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to attend Mercedes’ Friday debrief at the Malaysian Grand Prix after a light-hearted exchange between the Formula One rivals last weekend.
“I spoke to (Mercedes motorsport head) Toto (Wolff) and (technical head) Paddy (Lowe) about an invitation for Sebastian and they are easy with it,” he told his followers on Twitter on Tuesday.
“Dear Seb, this is the official invitation to join our debrief Friday 16.00 at Sepang. See you there, don’t forget your notebook!,” he added.
The two Germans had exchanged banter in the postrace news conference at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after Rosberg suggested he i spoke to Toto and Paddy about an invitation for Sebastian and they are easy with it.
Dear Seb, this is the official invitation to join our debrief Friday 16.00 at Sepang. See you there, don’t forget your notebook! :)
would like to see Vettel and other rivals close the performance gap to Mercedes.
“I think in the next couple of races we’re going to be leading the way for sure, and we’re going to try and keep it that way, but we know it would be good if they can come a bit closer, as long as they don’t come too close,” Rosberg said after the race in Melbourne .
Vettel, who is not on Twitter and finished third in the race, took that with some scepticism.
“Be honest. Do you really hope so? Seriously? You finished 30 seconds ahead of us and you hope it’s going to be closer? So you hope you slow down? Is that what you’re saying?,” asked the four times world champion.
CALENDAR REDUCED BERLIN: There will be no German Grand Prix this year, Hockenheim circuit boss Georg Seiler said on Tuesday in a decision that ended months of uncertainty over the country’s Formula One race.
The absence of Germany, home of reigning world champions Mercedes, for the first time since 1960 leaves the calendar with 19 races. “We have no hope any more of having a Formula One race here (this year),” Seiler told Bild newspaper. “We did everything in the last few years to keep the fans happy.”