Nico Rosberg believes Lewis Hamilton’s rivals need to exploit his current lack of confidence as it won’t last long.
The defending world champion described himself as in Toto Wolff also noted during the Chinese GP weekend as he struggled to finish fourth, only thanks to Max Verstappen’s penalty, and has already downplayed his championship chances.
It is an attitude eerily similar to that Hamilton was in during 2016 when Rosberg took advantage to claim his only world title before retiring and now he thinks Ferrari and Red Bull must do the same.
“When it doesn’t go perfectly, he starts to lose that edge a little bit and a touch of motivation and then just struggles for a while,” the German said in a video on his personal YouTube channel.
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff also noted his driver’s demeanour with Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle posing whether Daniel Ricciardo might even replace the Briton for 2019 after his victory in Shanghai.
Rosberg, who is now doing media work as a pundit, admits his former adversary won’t be down for long, though.
“You have to maximise those races because Lewis always comes back,” he claimed. “When he comes back, he comes back so damn strong that he’s almost unbeatable.
“Let’s see when that happens,” Nico concluded.
