I had to stop for fuel - Rosberg
It was a difficult weekend for Nico Rosberg at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. After a fantastic qualifying session on Saturday, Rosberg wasn't able to score points due to four safety car periods and a stop-and-go penalty for the youngster. Of course there was a positive note as team mate Wurz finished on the podium. Rosberg talks about his 'crazy' weekend.
Nico Rosberg "What an afternoon! The Canadian Grand Prix must have made good television because there was lots going on the whole time. Early in the race I thought I was set for a good result because I was running fifth and the car felt really good, but then the Safety Car came out on lap 21...
I had to stop for fuel on lap 23, which meant I missed the re-fuelling window by 13 seconds and that effectively ended my race. New rules punish people who pit immediately after the Safety Car comes out, so I was given a 10s stop-go penalty and all I could manage after that was 10th place.
On a positive note, Montreal was a good race for AT&T Williams because Alex [Wurz] finished third. He proved that the FW29 was a quick race car around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and he contributed six valuable points to the Constructors Championship.
Away from the track I enjoyed my time in Canada. I flew to Montreal via Ottawa in order to take in an NHL game, which was great fun. I've been a hockey fan since I used to play it as a kid and it was great to see the professional game live. I then met Vincent Lecavalier, the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team, on race day, and we had fun chatting about our respective sports.
Montreal is a great place and I'm told it's the second biggest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris. That's as maybe, but the French accent that the locals have is really weird! It just sounds very funny, and is very different to the French that is spoken in France.
I didn't get much of a chance to explore the city because I had a lot of PR functions to attend in the evenings, starting on Wednesday with the Canadian launch of my Nico Rosberg limited edition Oris watch. PR is part of my job, but it was a pity that I couldn't explore a little because the shopping’s great. I want to return to Europe with a really nice present for my girlfriend Vivienne, and I've now got to rely on the American mid-west to get what I need…
While in Montreal, I also watched a lot of the tennis from Roland Garros. The victories of Justine Henin and Raphael Nadal were stunning and they reminded me why I love the game so much. I used to play it very seriously, but I wasn't tall enough to progress higher up the ladder and now it's just part of my training regime. The hand-eye coordination that you need in tennis is useful for driving. "
