SPIELBERG, Austria -- Nico Rosberg hopes cool and mixed weather conditions ahead of Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix will help him move forward from sixth on the grid.
Rosberg qualified second in Austria, but was shuffled down the grid due to a gearbox change following an accident in final practice and will start sixth behind Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg. Both Mercedes drivers will start the race on the ultra-soft tyres, which suffered excessive degradation during the hot conditions in final practice on Saturday, while the Ferraris and Red Bulls will start on super-softs.
But Rosberg thinks cooler conditions on Sunday -- the morning started wet but the track was drying during the GP2 race -- will play into his hands if the race is dry.
"Tomorrow is a big unknown because the temperature is expected to drop 12 degress, and then who knows how the tyres are going to behave in 12 degrees less track temperature?" he said on Saturday night. "We have to wait and see and maybe that unknown could be good for me starting sixth."
Rosberg and Hamilton attempted to set a lap on super-softs during Q2 in order to start on the slightly harder rubber, but it was not quicker than their ultra-soft lap earlier in the session and therefore they will start on the purple-striped tyre.
"The thinking migrated towards the belief that it could be good to get a time done on them and start the race on them, considering all the other competitors would be on super-softs. It was not expected that all of them would be on super-softs, we would expect a couple but not all."
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, who starts from pole position, thinks Rosberg could struggle to overtake if the track stays dry.
"Overtaking the same speed car as you is not easy at all," he said. "It's a downforce circuit, so it's hard to stay close on the infield. I don't know who's ahead of [Rosberg] and behind me, so for example getting past a Williams or a Ferrari is not easy. Also the Red Bull, the power in a straight line is a lot different to last year.
"But he is very, very quick here and it feels like one of his strongest tracks going up against him and it's one of my weakest. So considering I'm on pole and it's one of my weakest circuits, I'm super happy about that. I'll try to do the job, but I know the guys behind me will do the best job they can do too."