Rosberg warns Vettel of Leclerc threat
- Published on 10 Jan 2019 13:59
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- By: Fergal Walsh
2016 Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg says Sebastian Vettel will have to "beware" new teammate Charles Leclerc. Leclerc joins the Scuderia outfit after an impressive 2018 rookie campaign with Sauber.
Vettel has been Ferrari's clear number one driver since he joined in 2015 alongside Kimi Raikkonen. The Iceman signed a two-year contract with Sauber when he was told that he would not be retained by Ferrari for the 2019 season.
Vettel failed to beat Lewis Hamilton to the title in both 2017 and 2018 despite having a car capable of matching world champions Mercedes. Rosberg states that the four-time world champion will have to be "perfect" next year to see off the treat from inside and outside Ferrari.
"Vettel will have to beware because Leclerc is very strong and he will no longer have the comfort zone of Raikkonen,” Rosberg exclaimed to Autospint. “Now it will be different, Seb will have to be perfect if he wants to win.”
Vettel has devotion to F1
However, Rosberg praised Vettel's determination and devotion to his work, claiming that rival Hamilton doesn't have the same trait: “Vettel is superior in terms of dedication to work; he works closely with the engineers. It is a devotion that Hamilton does not have.
“I do not know exactly what happened to him [Vettel] but this is sport, sometimes it seems everything is going in the right direction, then you just need one mistake to bring you down, you lose confidence and everything goes wrong.
“The same thing happened to me against Hamilton in 2015. With Lewis, I needed to change my attitude, I decided that I had to be the one to lead the game. Lewis always tends to impose his rules but I took control so as not to allow him to find the motivation. And I won.”
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Replies (5)
Login to replyjuju_hound
Posts: 180
Gosh he will always tell the story now, how he beat the great Hamilton. I'm bored.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Yet I kinda think he is allowed to. I mean, we are talking about him often getting toe to toe with a now 5 times champ, and actually snatching a title from him once. Merc' or not, Im sure most would milk that kinda tale til desert dryness.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I don't blame him, and it actually kind of amuses me because to an extent, I think he knows how much that irks Lewis. Because lets face it, Lewis has been a prick to Nico from the moment he became a contender on track. But it's also true that 2016 Nico won through some serious good fortune on the second half of the season.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
He did, but it also compensates for some of the poor luck he had in earlier seasons, so it didnt bother me. I really think he deserved that title.
blade
Posts: 341
Nico's far better reliability won him that title. No doubt he had some brilliant drives, but he didn't often out race Hamilton. Lets not forget some of the tactics he employed in that season too, tbf he did what it took to beat Hamilton and it nearly killed Mercedes in the process.