Nico Rosberg red-faced as Sky Sports pundit caught out on live TV - 'Can we interrupt?'
Nico Rosberg had an embarrassing lapse in concentration during the qualifying broadcast at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg was caught using his phone during Sky Sports F1's qualifying broadcast at the Chinese Grand Prix with fellow presenter Simon Lazenby asking him to stop 'Instagramming'.
Related articles
Lazenby was speculating about the potential winners of the Grand Prix with Damon Hill and Karun Chandhok in the studio when he directed the line of questioning towards Rosberg.
However, the 2016 world champion was busy on his phone, prompting Lazenby to ask: "There is Nico... Nico, can I interrupt your Instagramming, if I could for a moment, and just get your view on the race tomorrow? There you go, stick it in the jacket and tell us who you think is going to win it on Sunday."
After a bemused chuckle, Rosberg responded: "Well who you think is going to win it is unfortunately a pretty obvious one," before naming polesitter Max Verstappen as his clear favourite.
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
He went on to add: "It's just that Max Verstappen and this car are on another planet. It's really something historical we are witnessing, this level of performance, and I think also Perez is going to struggle to keep anywhere near him.
"And then behind that it is wide open. That's where the biggest excitement is going to be. Fernando did an incredible job in qualifying, but as we've been saying now, the Ferraris have the quickest race pace so they're going to be putting on a lot of pressure from behind."
As touched on by Rosberg, Verstappen is in an excellent position to extend his championship lead at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday.
More F1...
Toto Wolff response to Hamilton 'disaster' says it all as Rosberg twists knife [OPINION]
Fernando Alonso punished by stewards at Chinese GP over Carlos Sainz incident [NEWS]
Lewis Hamilton teaches Norris a lesson at Chinese GP as Toto Wolff left unhappy [LATEST]
The three-time world champion came from fourth on the grid to win the sprint race in dominant fashion, and qualified over three-tenths of a second faster than team-mate Perez later in the day.
One man who will need to come through the field on race day is Lewis Hamilton. The legendary Brit was eliminated in Q1 for the first time since the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and will therefore start from P18.
That result has piled more misery onto Toto Wolff and the Mercedes team, who were left concerned with their race pace on Saturday, despite Hamilton sealing a P2 finish in the sprint race.
