Hamilton has already proved Rosberg right over ‘motivation’ claim

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Nico Rosberg knows how much effort it takes to get the better of Lewis Hamilton in a race, let alone the Drivers’ Championship. But the ex-Mercedes star’s comments about his former colleague have provided some valuable insight into why the seven-time champion has struggled to find his optimum pace in 2022.

Hamilton mulled over his future over the winter break after losing out on his eighth crown to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in controversial fashion at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, before opting to return for 2022 by penning a new two-year contract.

However, the 37-year-old is yet to win a race this season for the Silver Arrows, the longest barren run he has endured since joining the team from McLaren in 2013. Worse yet, he has seen Verstappen dominate at the front — taking 11 wins from 16 races to lead the championship by 116 points.

Rosberg has always spoken candidly about his tense rivalry with Hamilton, which turned bitter when the pair locked horns between 2014 and 2016. The German driver got the better of Hamilton at the third attempt in 2016 after pipping the Briton to the title and announced his shock retirement just days later.

And the former champion opened up on how he viewed Hamilton from a psychological standpoint, suggesting he knew there were moments where the Mercedes star was vulnerable after “losing a bit of motivation”, and that could be relevant to his current struggles.

“To win a Formula One World Championship, first of all you need to look at your rival. In this case it was Lewis, he was the only real rival, and he’s now proven to be the best of all time, so the level is unbelievably high,” Rosberg said in an interview with Square Mile.

“But, as is the case with any human, there’s also some weaknesses. First of all, it’s important to be at your absolute 110% for the whole season, because anything less you’re just not going to have a chance against him. And it’s also important to be consistent over the whole season, to really not have any big, bad races, and deliver at every moment.

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“And then Lewis also has these periods where he loses a bit of motivation – he has these dips in form – and there it’s important to maximise those moments, to keep him down for a bit longer. If all these ingredients come together you stand a chance, and that’s what happened in 2016.”

Hamilton has been left to scrap for points just to keep himself motivated after Mercedes’ struggle to resolve critical issues with the W13’s ride height and porpoising left them lagging behind Red Bull and Ferrari.

And he faces being eclipsed for the first time since Rosberg clinched the title six years ago by his younger team-mate George Russell, who is 35 points clear of him with six races remaining.

But the Stevenage-born racer, who recently revealed he wants to stay in the sport to reach 400 races, has faith that Mercedes will fight to end their winless run before the season finishes.

“There are six races [left] so there’s six opportunities and we will try to get a win, but if we do not, I do not think it is the end of the world,” he said.

“[It has been] one of the toughest seasons of my career. We just need to understand the car. Our goal is a second placing. Hopefully, in the next six races, we will do well.”

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