Rookie Rosberg relishing debut

Rookie Nico Rosberg expects to prove he deserves his place on the grid when he makes his Formula One debut in Bahrain this weekend.

The German, son of former world champion Keke, has graduated to Formula One with Williams after winning the inaugural GP2 title last season.

Rosberg, 20, has acquitted himself well in testing and is not short of confidence as he approaches his first competitive sessions at the wheel of a Formula One car.

He said: “After so much testing, it’s going be good to finally race and it will be very interesting to see where we are compared with the others teams.

“I’m very confident, though, as the recent tests have been going well for me and I feel very much at home in the car.

“I am looking forward to my first Formula One race, especially because it’s on a track that I really enjoy and one that I have had great success at having won the GP2 championship there last year.”

Williams technical director Sam Michael has faith in Rosberg to justify his elevation to Formula One.

“Nico has covered the greatest distance out of all our drivers over the winter so he couldn’t be better prepared for his first season in Formula One,” he said.