‘Rosberg has to sort himself out’

Editor

Falling short of team-mate Lewis Hamilton this season, Niki Lauda says it is up to Nico Rosberg to get himself back in the game.

Last season Rosberg was Hamilton's number one challenger, taking the fight to the Brit in qualifying and on grand prix Sundays.

This year, though, the reigning World Champion has had it all his own way.

Outqualifying Rosberg in both races and beating him in the grands prix, Lauda reckons Rosberg has "definitely" fallen behind.

"Yes, Nico is definitely a little bit behind Lewis," he told the Daily Mail.

"He has to sort himself out. It is not anything I can talk to him about. I don't know why — he is driving as well as was. He will know what he has to do, and he must do it himself."

The Austrian, a triple World Champion, also responded to Bernie Ecclestone's comments that Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is the 'man who killed Formula One' given his team's dominant form.

Lauda, though, says Mercedes are in Formula 1 to win "every" grand prix, they were not here to make it "interesting."

"Even if Ferrari winning makes Bernie happy, I will still be upset," he said.

"The priority for me and Toto and Paddy (Lowe, the technical director) is to try to win every bloody race. It is our mission.

"I don’t care about the politics or what is good for Vettel or Ferrari. It is not my responsibility to make the sport more interesting. My worry for us is that Ferrari won so early in the season.

"That gives them a lot of momentum. For an Italian team, momentum can be very important.

"The Italians are emotional and it works best for them when they have a blend of English, Germans and Italians. They have that now (James Allison, a British engineer is their technical director). Vettel is a four-time world champion and so is someone to look up to. They have a combination of everything."