Rosberg taking it one race at a time

Editor

Although his lead over Lewis Hamilton has been slashed to just one, Nico Rosberg is adamant his focus is only on the race ahead and not the title chase.

Rosberg appeared to be unstoppable as the 2016 season began as he strung together a run of four grand prix wins.

That push his lead over triple World Champion Hamilton up to 43 points.

However, with just one race win in the ensuing six grands prix, a period in which Hamilton has won four, has seen Rosberg’s lead slashed to one point.

But the German is untroubled by the loss, adamant he’s still the one in the lead.

“Until now I’ve had the best season of all drivers,” he said in Thursday’s FIA press conference.

“That is the fact for me which I am focussing on but as I’ve said before in general I don’t look at the big picture because the best approach for me to win races is just to focus on the weekend at hand which is Hungary.

“We will try to get the best out of it and go for the win. It doesn’t feel any different to previous weekends. I have reflected on each and every race after it is done and I’ve moved on.

“I’m excited to be here and had a good season so far so I will try to win this weekend as well.”

Rosberg also refused to write off Ferrari or Red Bull getting involved in the tussle.

“Ferrari and Red Bull have been a bit up and down but there is still such a long way to go so it wouldn’t be right to say that,” he said.

As expected Rosberg was questioned about the radio communication rules that cost him three points at Silverstone.

He finished the British GP in second place but was dropped to third after being slapped with a 10-second penalty for Mercedes breaching the radio regulations when they assisted him with a gearbox problem.

“The radio communications were reviewed and it was deemed to be beyond what’s allowed and that’s it. I got a 10-second penalty and have to accept that.

“Now things have been clarified once more, we need to stick literally to the wording given by [FIA race director] Charlie [Whiting] and that’s it. It’s clear.”