Watch the F1 Report on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday
Wednesday 7 September 2016 21:25, UK
Nico Rosberg's seven Grand Prix wins this season have been more down to Lewis Hamilton's mistakes and problems than his own performances, according to the F1 Report guests.
The German stormed to victory after Hamilton failed to get off the line properly at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, although the championship leader did recover from falling as far as sixth to complete a Mercedes one-two.
Rosberg now has more wins than he managed in either of the last two seasons, and one more than Hamilton's six triumphs in 2016, but The Daily Telegraph's Daniel Johnson, who joined Marc Priestley and Natalie Pinkham in the studio, questioned whether the German is more resilient than he has been in the past.
"He's definitely feistier than he was in the last couple of years," Johnson said on the F1 Report, which airs on Wednesday at 8.30pm on Sky Sports F1.
"I think he's decided he's got to get his elbows out and he knows that he's not going to get a better opportunity than this with all the mechanical problems Lewis had earlier in the year.
"Is he more resilient? I don't know. He's won seven races and done what he had to do, but he hasn't actually had to overtake anyone to win them. It sounds a bit begrudging but his victories have been more down to Lewis' mistakes than his own brilliance.
"When Lewis gets it right I don't think Nico can beat him."
And Sky F1's Priestley believes it was another 'helping hand' from Hamilton which allowed Rosberg to close the gap in the title race to just two points.
"He did everything right and you have to congratulate him, but in reality it was all about the start," said Priestley.
"Lewis got it wrong for whatever reason and then did a great job in getting back to P2, but Mercedes were so dominant this weekend I think he could have started last and still got a one-two for the team.
"It was a good job from Nico for sure but Lewis gave him a helping hand."
Priestley, meanwhile, hopes to see the two go head-to-head between now and the end of the season to see if Rosberg can challenge Hamilton directly on the track.
"For the last two years we've been desperate to see them go head-to-head and to see if there's an actual possibility that Nico can overtake Lewis for a victory," he said. "We've seen Lewis overtake Nico but we haven't seen it the other way around.
"We keep talking about it, the world keeps talking about it, and for Nico that must surely be in his head now.
"He's doing a great job and you can't criticise him for that, but what we all want to see and I'm sure what he would want to do as well is put a move on Lewis to silence the critics and just give himself a little bit of a step up in self confidence."
Don't miss the F1 Report for analysis of the Italian GP. The Telegraph's Daniel Johnson and former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley join Natalie Pinkham in the studio at 8.30pm on Wednesday on Sky Sports F1.
