Nico Rosberg Q&A: Hamilton relationship remains 'respectful'

World championship leader Nico Rosberg - and in particular the state of his relationship with Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton - was understandably the hot topic as the media sessions got underway in the Montreal paddock on Thursday. Heading into this weekend’s Canadian round, here’s what Rosberg had to say…

Q: Nico, the rumour is that you and Lewis ‘smoked the pipe of peace’ after Monaco. What should we take from that?

Nico Rosberg: To be honest, that was nothing so extraordinary. When times are a bit tough we always sit down and talk - and take it from there. It was not really different than all the times before.

Q: But you didn’t do it over the telephone - you two did look each other in the eye?

NR: Honestly I don’t want to go into any details. Yes, we did talk to put that behind us. More than that I don’t want to say. I want to find a sound compromise between the interests of the fans and the team’s interests, because there is always the tendency that the media blow up stories unnecessarily. Remember what frenzy was created in Monaco. We did talk about that - and now it’s history.

Q: But what about that thing that team mates who are fighting for the title can never be friends?

NR: From my side nothing has changed. It is a respectful - and neutral - relationship.

Q: Has Monaco imposed any changes in the rules?

NR: No, not at all. Everything is still wide open.

Q: You once said that your dad Keke told you that only two things matter in F1 racing: winning Monaco and winning the title. Now you’ve won Monaco for the second time…

NR: That is awesome, isn’t it? Monaco is the most difficult race of the season, it is the most important race of the season, and it is my home. So when I ever think of wanting to win one race badly it would be Monaco. And here you have it: I managed it two times in a row! That is incredible.

Q: Your results in Monaco have been good for years. Your results in Montreal have been rather poor for years. Why is that?

NR: I have no explanation for that. I just read in the statistics that my best result was P5 - that was last year - but I would not know any reason why it is like that. Even on the contrary, I like this track here.

Q: This track is a tough on the brakes. Do you consider yourself good on the brakes?

NR: Actually yes. And I am working very hard with my crew on the brakes. Right now brakes are my main focus - still. It is still something where I do not feel completely comfortable. Brakes - that sounds so dull and easy. But fact is that they bake them for something like five months in an oven - so there is no fast fix. When you want to have changes, that might take up to half a year. The weight of the car has increased this year, so brakes are even more sensible than in the past.

Q: Is that really the case: you want to change something and eventually - if you are lucky - you get the changes by the time of the Italian Grand Prix?

NR: I am constantly working on that matter with my crew. In fact we did have a solution to the brakes situation, but then the brake disc passed out at the Barcelona test. I was going straight then without brakes, and that was the end of my solution.

Q: Isn’t that rather an odd situation - that it takes months to get new brakes in a sport that is dedicated to speed?

NR: These brakes are very expensive and take a long time to make. My solution was a type of brake that we will not use anymore because we do not want to run into troubles. It’s simply too risky that the same thing can happen again.

Q: You head into this race again as the championship leader. Is that a nice feeling?

NR: Definitely a better feeling than not leading the standings, that is for sure! (laughs) But right now that is not too high on my priority list and in my focus. And I would say that the feeling of having won Monaco is better than the feeling of leading the standings, as it means having broken the rhythm of Lewis - to put a stop to his winning streak.

Q: That you didn’t throw up your hands in defeat, but fought back - is that it?

NR: I will never throw up my hands. That will ever happen. No matter how far in front or behind I am. It is always full attack. Always.