#360view: Rosberg is a different driver but Mercedes need more

Matt Majendie 21:56 03/11/2015
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Rosberg in action.

    It has been four long and painful months – and nine races in all – since Nico Rosberg last stood on the top step of the podium.

    Increasingly, he has cut a forlorn figure as team-mate Lewis Hamilton has romped away with the wins and the world title. On Sunday as Formula 1 made a triumphant return to Mexico after a 23-year hiatus, Rosberg was finally back to winning ways.

    – MEXICO: Alonso retirement inevitable

    – MEXICO: Rosberg beats Hamilton to Grand Prix win
    – TRD 86 Cup: Al Rashed surprises himself with start

    Rosberg’s nadir had arguably come just seven days previously in Austin as Hamilton triumphantly wiped the sweat from his brow and nonchalantly flung a cap in the direction of the German, whose retort was to sulkily return it.

    In Mexico, he was a completely different figure and proved a deserving winner. So what was he able to produce that had been missing from his armoury?

    One damning argument would be to suggest that Hamilton was not quite at his best, a few days of championship celebration knocking him off his stride and meaning he took off the chokehold for the first time in months with that long searched-for third world title officially secure.

    But the truth was that Hamilton was no less driven behind the wheel in Mexico, F1’s eternal crowd pleaser determined to put on a show in front of what was surely the sport’s ultimate crowd, a frenzied Mexican support that showed fans and promoters quite exactly how to host a grand prix weekend.

    It was there in frosty exchanges with his race engineer Pete Bonnington over a tyre strategy he disagreed with and one he defied for a handful of nervous laps for the team’s hierarchy. Such antics weren’t exactly those of a driver easing off.

    But perhaps the truer and harsher explanation is that Rosberg does not have the mental strength to beat Hamilton when it matters. It was there last season as the German mentally crumbled at stages.

    And it has to be said he is no poker player – his face and manner in every pre and post-race press conference giving the impression of a driver with shrinking confidence as he team-mate repeatedly sticks the knife in on the race track.

    In Mexico, the pressure was lifted. Rosberg knew mathematically that it was game over in the title race for another season and that, if he made a mistake, it didn’t really matter.

    He drove accordingly and was the right race winner for all Hamilton’s gripes over the radio and in the post-race press conference.

    Niki Lauda called it the perfect confidence boost for a driver who has been increasingly caricatured as Mercedes’ No2, the Austrian saying it would lead to him getting “his stability back and to keep on fighting”.

    Rosberg desperately needs to continue in the same vein for the final two races of the season in Brazil and Abu Dhabi to further boost confidence and give him the belief he can win a fair fight against Hamilton in 2016.

    There are those on the grid who are skeptical. Williams’ Felipe Massa, well versed on life as a No2 to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, said prior to Sunday’s race that Rosberg’s situation would only get worse. That Merc was now effectively Hamilton’s team and his only future is to move elsewhere.

    Currently behind the wheel of the fastest car, Rosberg is not about to do that but the next two weekends could be crucial to the machinations of next season. Does he have the mental fight for it? Only time will tell.

    Recommended