“I have some work to do,” Rosberg admits

Hamilton was 0.7s faster than his teammate in FP2, although the German did not have a smooth day, losing the last part of the session when he was forced to park with an engine problem.

“For sure I have some work to do, Lewis was pretty quick today,” said Rosberg.

“I had the disadvantage of having to run the medium tyre this afternoon, whereas Lewis was always on softer tyres, so he would get up to speed quicker, so that hindered me a little bit.

"One weekend is that way, one weekend is the other way, and, especially on a new track like that, it's a bit more penalising. Anyways, tomorrow I've got plenty of time to work on the one-lap speed, so I'll get there.”

"Didn't lose much" over FP2 stoppage

Rosberg said he wasn't too concerned about the engine issue that cost him the last 20 minutes of the FP2 session.

“It felt like an hour, sitting on a camping chair there, it really felt like a long time. So not ideal.

"But I still got a good run on high fuel, so I still learned what I needed to learn, so it's OK, I didn't lose much.

"The engine is very old even if there is a problem, which I don't know yet, it's not an issue. It had a lot of miles on it, so no problem there.”

Meanwhile, Rosberg noted that, come qualifying, getting a good tow will be a key factor.

“The slipstream is pretty massive here, it's huge. If you can get a good one on the last lap, that will be pretty good.”