Nico Rosberg says Mercedes must not be caught off guard by Ferrari after a limited first day of practice for the Russian Grand Prix.
A diesel spillage in FP1 and a rain shower in the afternoon meant teams went away from Friday with very little relevant data for Saturday. Rosberg completed some wet laps in the afternoon session but the forecast for the rest of the weekend is dry, meaning the teams face a hectic FP3 to optimise their set-ups for qualifying. .
After Friday's delays, Rosberg is cautiously optimistic about Mercedes' chances.
"Prospects for both [me and the team] are looking good," he said. "For the team, they have the opportunity to win the championship this weekend, which would be an amazing achievement for the second time in a row. I'll give it everything to make that happen for everybody, myself included."
Mercedes' wariness ahead of this weekend is due to Pirelli's decision to bring soft and super-soft tyres to Sochi, as it did at the Singapore Grand Prix where Mercedes struggled and Ferrari romped to victory. Rosberg knows there will be some similarities this weekend.
"I'm expecting to have a very good car again, although there might some Singapore similar things. So we need to be careful, not be caught off guard like at Singapore."
Asked if he was nervous about a repeat, Rosberg said: "Nervous? No because I'm very confident that we have a great car. But of course, this could be a more difficult weekend here for us. Today, it's a pity really that it's been raining because that means we'll have to do all the work tomorrow morning."