Jun.23 (GMM) F1’s battle for the 2015 title looks to now be a two-horse race.
Nico Rosberg has won three of the last four grands prix, despite earlier appearing outclassed by his Mercedes teammate and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Indeed, Red Bull was so confident Hamilton would win on Sunday that its race-day edition of the paddock magazine The Red Bulletin featured the headline ‘Hamilton wins in Spielberg’.
On social media, a photo of actual winner Rosberg holding the magazine with a puzzled and disgruntled look on his face has gone viral.
Spain’s La Vanguardia declared after Austria that the weekend had been a case of “Rosberg dressed as Hamilton”.
“There are people who repeatedly question him (Rosberg),” agreed boss Toto Wolff, “but he is mentally very strong.”
Briton Hamilton, however, urged Rosberg not to feel too comfortable in his new run of form, warning that the German cannot expect to ride a wave of ‘momentum’.
“I don’t feel you carry anything through,” he insisted.
Of Rosberg’s three wins in May and June, one of them was Monaco, where only a team strategy blunder cost Hamilton victory.
“He (Rosberg) has done Barcelona and here (Austria), two out of eight isn’t too bad really. I’m happy with that,” said Hamilton.
“When you look at it seven poles out of eight is pretty decent and perhaps without Monaco, it wouldn’t be as close as it is now — he has had just two strong weekends,” he added.
Rosberg, however, warned that Silverstone could be another strong one, as he started last year’s British grand prix from pole, and won in 2013.
As for the rivalry between the warring pair, boss Toto Wolff said he is not worried.
“The duel is intense,” he said, “but it’s somewhat more civilised than last year.
“I think that is because they have been friends before and so they have a strong basis. It is not as though they hate one another.
“Once their racing careers are over, I am sure they will have a friendly relationship again,” Wolff is quoted by Austria’s Sportwoche.