Rosberg explains how to beat Hamilton in F1 2018

Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 rivals will have to pull off “the perfect season” in 2018 to have any chance of beating him to the world championship, according to former teammate Nico Rosberg.

After losing out to Hamilton in 2014 and 2015, Rosberg pipped his former Mercedes teammate to the 2016 drivers’ crown before announcing his shock retirement from F1 just days later. The German is one of only two drivers to outscore Hamilton over the course of a season, with Jenson Button also claiming the rare feat over his then McLaren teammate in 2011.

Hamilton overturned a 14-point deficit to Sebastian Vettel to win his fourth title by 46 points in 2017, taking nine victories over the course of the campaign. The defending world champion, who has a total of 62 grand prix wins across his 11 years in the sport, heads into the new season as favourite for the title once more.

“The weakness Lewis has is a bit of inconsistency. He has these periods when he is just not on it,” Rosberg told Sky Sports, after being named as a pundit for the channel’s F1 coverage this season. 

“If you are able to pounce in those periods and really make the most of it, you can keep him down for a while longer. You have to make the most of it, absolutely, and Sebastian did that pretty well last year.

“When Lewis has his good weekends he is almost unbeatable, he is unbelievably fast and maybe the best guy out there. The only way to beat Lewis is to be 100 percent with everything, do the perfect season. Otherwise there is no chance.”

Rosberg believes his successor Valtteri Bottas, who is set to embark on his second year with Mercedes, has what it takes to challenge Hamilton this season, after picking up three wins in his maiden campaign with the German manufacturer. 

“I hope that Valtteri can be even closer to [Lewis] this year, because last year he showed some really big flashes of brilliance but it just lacked in consistency. I think he can do it, I think he can really ramp it up even further and get very, very close. That is what we want to see, we want to see a good internal battle there.

“Then Sebastian has to be the next one as a big challenger for Lewis. For Kimi, looking at last year, it will not be so easy but maybe he can find a little bit extra this year.

“Then the Red Bull guys it depends on their car. If the car is good, those two are some of the most exciting prospects and when they are up in front there is always action happening.”