Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium // Nico Rosberg would have spent much of the summer break agonising over how a 43-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the Formula One championship had turned into a deficit of 19.
The German would also have devoted his energy towards planning a reversal of fortune in the title fight and how to stop his Mercedes-GP teammate’s ominous momentum, beginning with this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Chasing his first F1 title, Rosberg has appeared to wilt under pressure over the past few races, handing the initiative back to Hamilton as the Briton chases a third straight drivers’ championship and fourth overall.
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Having failed to win any of the first five races, when he was hampered by mechanical woes and engine troubles, Hamilton has roared back to win six of the past seven, with an increasingly exasperated Rosberg unable to stop him and to contain his own frustration.
An unlikely victory on Sunday would be a 50th career win for Hamilton, who was handed a grid penalty yesterday and will have to start at the back. More importantly, perhaps, it would deal another blow to Rosberg’s fragile confidence.
A third straight year as runner-up to Hamilton – his rival since they were racing karts as teenagers – would be unbearable for Rosberg having won the opening four races of the season.
“I know I’ll have the best car out there and I’m massively pumped to be back on track,” a defiant Rosberg said. “It’s like a clean slate at this stage.”
The German driver insists that “what’s happened so far this season is in the past”, but it is clear that Rosberg will need a more steely approach over the nine remaining races and must not take Hamilton’s resurgence so personally.
Hamilton will start Sunday’s race from near the back of the grid as the world championship leader takes a hefty grid penalty for exceeding his allowed allocation of engine components.
“As far as I’m aware, we will be taking the penalty this weekend,” the Mercedes driver told reporters at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit yesterday.
“I have no engines left.”
Just how many places he will drop on Sunday’s grid, however, remains unclear with a team spokesman saying the Briton was expected to start at the back or very close to the back of the grid.
Last year, Hamilton won here from pole – five years after his other win – with Rosberg finishing second after recovering from a poor start.
Stretching through the Ardennes forest, the Spa circuit is the longest of the year at just over seven kilometres, and features famed F1 corners such as Eau Rouge and Blanchimont, an incredibly steep hill and moody weather conditions that can leave one part of the track damp and another part dry.
These ingredients make it arguably F1’s most pure test of drivers’ pure skill, and is regularly cited alongside Japan’s Suzuka as the race they enjoy most.
Unlike another legendary track in Monaco, which is twisty, sinewy, notoriously slow and tough to overtake on, Spa is incredibly fast with more than 70 per cent of the race at full throttle and average speeds around 230 kilometres per hour.
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