MONZA, Italy - Nico Rosberg has played down Lewis Hamilton's new pool of fresh engines, saying "everything is going to plan" with his own usage of power units.
Hamilton's huge grid penalty in Spa came after Mercedes made multiple engine changes, capitalising on a loophole in the regulations which effectively allowed it to stockpile fresh ones for the remainder of the season. That means he will not face a penalty for using any one of the three engines Mercedes gave him during the Spa weekend as he has already served the penalty on each.
Some have suggested Hamilton's engine situation has given him the edge in the title fight, with Rosberg now consigned to his current engine and one fresh power unit for the remaining eight races. However, the German seemed relaxed about the situation when asked about it on Thursday.
When told Hamilton seemed happy to have extra engines, Rosberg replied: "I am happy as well, everything is going to plan. I have had one race on my current engine as it was new in Spa."
Rosberg capitalised on Hamilton's penalties in Belgium, turning in a faultless weekend to end his teammate's run of four consecutive wins before the summer break. That cut the gap to Hamilton to ten points but Rosberg refused to be drawn on commenting on his state of mind.
"I was very happy to win the race and the way the race went for me it was a great weekend," he said.
Speaking about his expectations for the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, he said: "It will be easier on the tyres, we are expecting two stop or one stop so it should be easier but it is the same tyres as Spa with the super-soft and it was really close in qualifying so we are expecting it a similar situation again with the track being shorter here it will be really close. It is saturated with the super-softs due to the temperatures so all the teams close up."