‘Lewis Is Not Stupid’: Rosberg Confident Wolff’s Tactics Won’t Affect Hamilton’s F1 Title Campaign

There was a lot of uncertainty regarding the contract situation of Lewis Hamilton in the off-season. But that was resolved when he put pen to paper on a one-year deal that will see him through the 2021 season. However, there are rumblings that he is reportedly unhappy with the length of contract.

Former F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg feels Hamilton won’t let that distract from the goal of beating Michael Schumacher statistically.

Lewis Hamilton has been very dominant since he switched from McLaren to up-and-coming Mercedes in 2014. He has won six out of the last seven world championships and would have won in 2016 if it were not for Rosberg. The Brit will be looking to win his eighth world title in 2021, which will see him overtake Schumacher in terms of title.

Lewis Hamilton absolutely geared up for 2021 season according to Rosberg

In a segment for Sky Sports F1 on their YouTube channel, Rosberg stated that Lewis Hamilton will not let his one-year contract distract him from his goals for 2021.

“I’m not sure about that. Who knows? I can’t imagine for him as well. He’s quite ok with that. It gives all the flexibility at the end of the year. So, I dont know, I don’t think it’s going affect his performance this year. I mean come on why should it.”

Rosberg also addressed the role of Toto Wolff behind the implementation of the driver salary cap and how it would affect the Brit.

“From that point of view, thats not going to go down too well with Lewis that its his team boss that may be the driving force in this. However, still Lewis is not stupid and he’ll also understand where Toto is coming from in that sense. And still it’s not gonna hurt his performance on the way to becoming the greatest of all time statistically and beating Michael Schumacher for that Eighth title.”

Will Mercedes’ pre-season problems follow them into the season-opener?

Mercedes endured a troublesome pre-season testing phase in Bahrain. This saw them finish at the bottom of the pile in terms of laps completed. The reliability issues which plagued them throughout the three days will need to be resolved by the German team before the season starts.

However, teams around the paddock are skeptical about the German team’s struggles, most of all rivals Red Bull. Though the Austrian team blitzed the field in Bahrain, they are not resting on their laurels.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen expects Mercedes to be ready for the season-opener, and that is a realistic expectation. The Bahrain race is looking more and more enticing and would be a good barometer for the rest of the season.