Rosberg suggests why Bottas is so fast: 'It's Hamilton's chassis'

"We were a bit surprised yesterday because this is the absolutely Mercedes track," Rosberg begins his analysis as a pundit at Sky Sports. "Yet in the Mercedes sectors as well, Red Bull were really strong setting purple sectors, as a result of that I think qualifying will be so tight and interesting today."

Rosberg continued, stating that where Paul Ricard is one of the more normal circuits on the calendar, a unique situation also arises here, "We've had unusual tracks in Monaco and Azerbaijan, this is more of a normal track so yes this is an important test for Red Bull to see where they are on a normal track. But also here it's a special situation because so much of it is down to tyres overheating, especially on the front end so it's a unique situation in that sense actually."

Chassis change

Also, the former driver has an explanation for Valtteri Bottas' improved speed, namely the chassis he took over from his teammate. Rosberg: "Maybe it's down to the swapping of the chassis. Because he has Lewis' chassis here for this weekend, so maybe as a result of that he has found a lot of form."