Chinese GP victor plays down growing early-season advantage
Sunday 17 April 2016 14:18, UK
Nico Rosberg says Lewis Hamilton remains the "benchmark" for him despite winning his sixth race in a row in China to take control of the 2016 world title fight.
Although beaten to the first corner by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo on Sunday, Rosberg's sequence of wins stretching back to last season never seemed in particular danger of ending - especially after the early race leader's tyre exploded down the back straight on lap three.
Rosberg never relinquished the lead thereafter and, completing a conventional two-stop strategy, won by 38 seconds from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. And with Mercedes team-mate Hamilton's drive from the back of the grid yielding only seventh place, Rosberg now holds a 36-point championship lead.
But, despite currently being on the fourth-longest winning sequence in F1 history, Rosberg is not taking anything for granted - or ruling out his triple world champion team-mate.
"Six wins, that doesn't count for me because three wins were last year and I just think about this year," he told Sky Sports F1. "And I'm happy about those, they've gone well, but it's early days.
"Three races are just a handful and we've got 18 to go - it's the longest season in F1 history. My team-mate is dear Lewis and he's going to push like hell, like always, and it's tough to beat him in previous years and it's going to be tough to beat him this year.
"I look forward to the battle though, that's what I'm here for. He's the benchmark."
Having led all but the race's opening three races, Rosberg joked "I heard there was a lot of action going on - I didn't see anything!" after all three of his likely title rivals - Hamilton and Ferrari pair Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen - all required front-wing changes in the early stages.
But although his race may have been largely hassle-free, the 30-year-old revelled in the handling of his W07 around the Shanghai circuit.
"A special race for me, really," said Rosberg. "The balance of the car and the way we managed to set it up this weekend was insane.
"On every tyre, whatever we were doing, it was just really a pleasure a drive and I was pushing all the way through to cover every eventuality. It was great."
I've got a little bit of an advantage now and I look forward to the next couple of races and try to win there in Russia.
Hamilton: Damaged car drove 'like a bed'
He added: "I couldn't foresee that my car was going to handle so well today because on Friday we were really damaging the tyres a lot and today the tyres just held on. It was just incredible out there."
With a 100 per cent start to the season behind him, Rosberg will now head to the Russian GP in two weeks' time aiming to become the first driver since Michael Schumacher in 2004 to open a season with four straight victories.
"I've got a little bit of an advantage now and I look forward to the next couple of races and try to win in Russia," the delighted championship leader added.
Don't miss the F1 Report on Wednesday at 8:30pm on Sky Sports F1 for full analysis of an action-packed Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. Natalie Pinkham is joined in the studio by Marc Priestley and Alex Lynn.
