Formula One: Why we should stop underestimating Nico Rosberg

Before every race we see Nico Rosberg line up on at the front of the grid alongside his more famous teammate, Lewis Hamilton, yet every time we fail to consider him as a serious contender for race winner.

Time and again we underestimate the quiet German driver even though history tells us otherwise.

This past weekend Rosberg showed us the perils of underestimating him were with a splendid win at the Austrian Grand Prix. It is his second race win in a row and he has now won three of this season’s eight races (Austria, Monaco and Spain). He’s also been slowly chipping away at current world champion Hamilton’s lead and is now spitting distance from his teammate.

Rosberg is just 10 points shy of being number 1 on the scoreboard. This is sure to make Lewis Hamilton sit up and take notice.

One of the reasons we tend to underestimate Rosberg is he doesn’t mind playing second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton on qualifying day. So far Hamilton has bagged seven out of eight poles this season nd won his 45th career pole in Austria to match Sebastian Vettel. He now trails only Michael Schumacher (68) and Ayrton Senna (65) for the most career pole positions.

Two weeks ago in Monaco, Hamilton reigned supreme all weekend but lost out after a stupid mistake by the team when they pulled him in for an unnecessary tyre change, allowing Nico to get ahead and claim the chequered flag.

But in Austria it was Rosberg who was the superior driver, beating Hamilton right as they crossed the first corner while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso crashed into the barriers at the second corner, bringing out the safety car for five laps as the wreckage was removed.

Hamilton then was further bogged down by a 10-second penalty for a rookie mistake he shouldn’t have made when he came flying out of the pit-lane, crossing the stipulated white line. A mistake that extended Rosberg’s lead and made it impossible for Lewis to catch up with him.

1996 champion Damon Hill’s advice to Hamilton however has fallen on deaf ears. “Nico went home (after Bahrain) and said, ‘right, I’m not having any more of this’ and focused on the next job,”  he told UK’s Express newspaper .  “But look at the schedule Lewis indulged in between Bahrain and that race.”

Between Bahrain and Spain, Hamilton travelled in his private jet, skipping from Monaco to London, Mallorca to Monza, Los Angeles to New York before returning to the UK and Spain. “Even with someone with an abundance of talent like Lewis, to be absolutely at the sharp end you cannot afford to give anything away to someone like Nico. You should never underestimate your competitors,” Hill insisted.

Rosberg has every intention of taking this down to the wire. He is focused and more determined than we’ve ever seen him. “I had a good start and then good pace in the race – that is what I’m most happy about,” Rosberg said at the press conference after the race. “I think I have found what I needed to find last year in terms of in the races and that’s what is really working out for me this year.”

Like he said he’s found “focus” and “pace”  so we’d better stop underestimating him.We could just be looking at the driver’s champion come the end of the season.