Nico Rosberg put a brave face on as he walked to the podium at Monza on Sunday after his second-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix.
He received some jeers from the Italian crowd as he stood on the gantry, which hangs over the start-finish straight and that sums up the situation the German finds himself in.
He is winning the drivers’ championship from his Mercedes-GP teammate Lewis Hamilton, but he is losing the popularity contest.
His collision with Hamilton in Belgium two weeks ago worked out well for him on the track as he finished second and scored 18 points to the zero of his teammate who did not finish.
The Belgian crowd were unimpressed by the incident as Rosberg was heavily booed after the race. It appears the Italians were similarly unimpressed, judging by their reaction.
It was not a good day for Rosberg. He was beaten by Hamilton and had his points lead cut to 22 with six races of the season to go. But what would have rankled the most was the manner of the defeat.
He had led in the beginning as he capitalised on Hamilton’s slow start and he was four seconds clear when the Briton moved to second after he had overtaken the Williams of Felipe Massa.
Rosberg had already shown how hard he was pushing by out-braking himself at Turn 1 on Lap 8, and having to go through the painfully slow run-off area, which consisted of zigzagging through some cones.
Hamilton was marginally quicker than him, as he had been all weekend, and had cut the gap down to less than a second when Rosberg repeated his out-braking error at the same corner on Lap 29.
This gifted the lead to Hamilton and he went on to win for the sixth time in 2014, a thoroughly deserved victory as he had out-performed Rosberg.
It is still not a bad situation for Rosberg, given his points lead, but it is hard to look beyond the fact that without Hamilton’s misfortune with mechanical unreliability it would be the 2008 world champion who would be top of the standings and not the German.
Hamilton has failed to finish three of the season’s 13 races, two through car failure (Australia and Canada), and one through the damage to the chassis caused by the puncture that was a consequence of his collision with Rosberg in Belgium.
He has also had issues in qualifying. A brake failure in Germany and an oil leak in Hungary meant he started at the back of the grid for both those races, hurting his victory chances at both events.
Rosberg has failed to finish just once in 2014, in Britain when a gearbox problem caused him to stop while leading.
In the nine races that both Mercedes drivers have finished this season, Hamilton has out-scored Rosberg 191-177.
This is not meant to bash Rosberg’s performances. He has driven well this season against a man who is regarded by many in the F1 paddock as the fastest driver in the series on pure raw pace and Rosberg still has an outstanding opportunity to follow in his father Keke, the 1982 world champion, and take the title.
Rosberg had, until Belgium, not made a serious mistake in a race all season, and had matched Hamilton’s speed through consistency and his ability to set up his car well.
The problem is he has not demonstrated the speed or the magic to win when things have not gone his way.
Hamilton has produced a number of stirring comeback drives to pick some strong results after starting down the grid through qualifying problems – some as a result of his own mistakes – and finishing third in Hungary after starting in the pit lane was a sensational result.
If Rosberg is beaten to the title by Hamilton, and by less than seven points, then Bahrain back in April is a race he should look back at with regret.
He had taken pole in Sakhir, but lost out at the start to his teammate. He clearly had the better set-up on his car, was faster, yet could not pass Hamilton, unable to make a move stick as the Briton’s race craft proved too good.
When you have the fastest car, barring mechanical problems, you really have to win if you are to be world champion, as there will be days when you do not have the advantage.
Hamilton was cheered on the podium at Monza, probably out of respect for a sterling drive that had seen him recover from fourth place to beat his teammate fair and square on a day when he was the quicker overall package.
He hunted down Rosberg and the German cracked and that has to be a huge boost for Hamilton ahead of the next round in Singapore on September 22, a venue he goes well at having won there in 2009 and taken pole position twice there too.
Rosberg has never been in a title battle in his nine years in F1, while Hamilton has one title to his name, and has missed out on two others at final races.
The evidence of Belgium and Italy is that Rosberg is not coping with the pressure well and he must raise his game if he is to be taken seriously as a world champion in the making.
Races that both Hamilton and Rosberg have finished in 2014
Race Hamilton Rosberg
Malaysia 1st 2nd
Bahrain 1st 2nd
China 1st 2nd
Spain 1st 2nd
Monaco 2nd 1st
Austria 2nd 1st
Germany 3rd 1st
Hungary 3rd 4th
Italy 1st 2nd
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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