Hamilton: I know I’m faster than Rosberg

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton may have had a disappointing start to the Formula 1 season, but he insists that he is faster than team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Rosberg has made a perfect start to the campaign, winning all four races – in Australia, Bahrain, China and Russia – thus far.

Hamilton, on the other hand, has suffered from mechanical problems and poor starts, which has seen him finish second, third, seventh and second in the first four races of the season.

Despite this, Hamilton remains convinced that he is quicker than Rosberg and is determined to prove it as the season progresses.

“I’ve known that since day one so it doesn’t change anything, but of course, it’s good to be reminded of it and see the pace that I did have,” he told reporters.

“We did a fantastic job of getting the car where it needed to be this weekend and we were very strong with where we had the set-up, very happy but it was just another race where I couldn’t fully exploit that so I come away from here.”

While the reigning Formula 1 champion will be frustrated with his start to the season, he is staying optimistic as there are still 17 races remaining for him to catch up with Rosberg.

Rosberg sits at the summit of the Formula 1 standings with 100 points, while Hamilton is in second with 57 points.

“In terms of the work that we’re doing and the processes they’re doing, the glass is half full as there’s still a long way to go and we can take this performance that we’ve had and, my group of guys, with the set-up and everything, there’s no reason why we can fight for wins,” the 31-year-old said.

“There are 17 races to go and, if the last four are anything to go by, I’m sure there is more to come so we’ll have to take it and try to twist it into positives.”