NOVEMBER 13, 2016

Eyes turn to the skies for Brazil title fight

Eyes are turning to the skies as a decisive day in the 2016 world champion prepares to dawn in Brazil.

Eyes are turning to the skies as a decisive day in the 2016 world champion prepares to dawn in Brazil.

If Nico Rosberg wins at Interlagos, he will be the world champion, but teammate Lewis Hamilton has continued his late run of good form this season with pole and could keep the fight running until the Abu Dhabi finale.

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda, however, claims that he and team boss Toto Wolff are "not at all nervous".

That is because the German camp has already secured the constructors' world championship, and it is mathematically certain that a silver-clad racer will secure the drivers' title.

"Toto and I only made a bet about which of our cars will be ahead," Lauda told German television RTL after qualifying.

"I said it will be Lewis, Toto said Nico. So I was right."

But the F1 legend admitted that Sunday could be another matter, particularly if the weather forecast is right.

"The weather for tomorrow does not look so great," he said. "Everything can change."

But Lauda said Rosberg will know how to handle the pressure of a very important day in his career.

"Nico will go to sleep tonight," Lauda said late on Saturday. "Tomorrow he gets up, looks at the weather, and then will start to think about how the race might develop."

(GMM)