Nico Rosberg says Mercedes AMG F1 is fired up. Even if the team isn’t quite there yet, Mercedes has reached a new level at Paul Ricard, at least in the race, with the first double podium of the season for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. 

The team’s former team-mate, Nico Rosberg, was pleased to see his team make a comeback after a qualifying session that had been a disappointment in terms of pure performance.

“What an incredible comeback for Mercedes after the slap in the face in qualifying, nobody could have predicted a double podium and also with the pace they showed.”

“They were close to the pace of the Ferraris and Red Bulls. That was a really big positive for Mercedes.”

For Nico Rosberg, Mercedes’ priority now must be to work on qualifying.

“It seems that maybe it’s this qualifying pace, which is the big, big problem they have to fix. In the race they confirmed that they have made progress, so that’s a big positive today for them.”

“If they continue to have such bad Saturdays, it’s going to be difficult for them to make enough progress to really fight for the win. So it all comes down to that.”

“A Formula 1 team like Mercedes always works very, very hard. Sometimes it’s hard for me to imagine how they’re going to work even harder, because there’s a limit to everything.”

For Nico Rosberg, who knows his former teammate Lewis Hamilton, there is no doubt that the British driver is still over-motivated to face this second half of the season, even if the victories will not be there.

“They remain super, super motivated and a race like Sunday’s also gives them energy because it gives them hope after a darker day like Saturday.”

“It gives them hope that maybe they can still win this year and fight for victories at the end of the season, with a bit of luck too, you know.”

“That hope spurs you on again and that’s the momentum that Mercedes is in right now.”