“You Have to Pounce,” Nico Rosberg Urges Charles Leclerc to Exploit Lewis Hamilton’s Weakness

Nico Rosberg believes that Charles Leclerc has the perfect time to gain the upper hand against Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari this year.

“You Have to Pounce,” Nico Rosberg Urges Charles Leclerc to Exploit Lewis Hamilton’s Weakness

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (via Getty), Nico Rosberg (via IMAGO)

Charles Leclerc has managed to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay and outscore him in almost all races this year. While Ferrari’s pace remains mediocre, Leclerc seems to have an upper hand against Hamilton since the beginning of this season. Now, as the seven-time champion works on getting a better grip of his performance, 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg issues strong advice to the Monegasque in his bid against the 40-year-old.

Lewis Hamilton‘s performance has remained nothing short of a disaster, especially when compared to Charles Leclerc. Although the Briton is just one spot behind Leclerc in P5, the point disparity between the two is over 23. As such, Hamilton will have to work extremely hard on his pace to improve his position in the pecking order and gain an advantage over his Monegasque counterpart.

Nico Rosberg reckons that Charles Leclerc must make good use of Lewis Hamilton’s struggling pace at Ferrari. The 27-year-old must capitalize on Hamilton’s tumultuous form and gain as much advantage as possible. Rosberg urged Leclerc to pounce when the 40-year-old is down, as such a slump in performance for the seven-time champion does not last very long. The former F1 champion was Hamilton’s biggest rival back in the day, when things got extremely toxic within Mercedes.

Definitely. That was one of Lewis’s weaknesses. When he does get down on [himself], you have to pounce – because you don’t know how long it’s going to last.

Nico Rosberg told Sky Sports F1

Rosberg firmly believes that the 40-year-old is set to come back with a big bang and shock the entire paddock when it happens. The German reckons that there are only a handful of races before Hamilton regains his lost form and starts scoring great results. As such, Leclerc must maximize his points as it would be difficult to defeat the Briton after he returns to his winning ways in the pinnacle of motorsports.

You know he’s going to come back with a bang, so you might have one race, two races, maybe three, and you have to maximize your points, because afterwards it will be very difficult again.

Nico Rosberg added

Nico Rosberg reveals Lewis Hamilton’s ‘lowered expectations’ at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton was expected to compete for either of the championships, if not both, in his debut with Ferrari. However, things turned out worse than imagined as Hamilton failed to achieve even a podium finish in the first nine rounds. Due to this, Nico Rosberg now believes that the 40-year-old had to lower his expectations of the Prancing Horse in order to remain positive and continue working on improving his pace.

Lewis Hamilton (via Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton (via Ferrari)

Rosberg highlighted that Lewis Hamilton accepted the situation at Ferrari and how it was much more difficult than anticipated. Moreover, Hamilton also lowered his expectations of the Italian constructor significantly and remained realistic in his approach with the team. Hence, the 40-year-old is in the phase of regaining his lost form and starting to score great results with the Scuderia, as even they acknowledge their shortcomings this year.

What I saw from Lewis was a little bit more of an acceptance. OK, yes, the situation is difficult. The expectation has come down also and now build from there with a lower expectation. I think he’s in that phase now.

Nico Rosberg noted

Ferrari must find immediate improvements in their car to retain Hamilton’s interest in the team. As things currently are, the 40-year-old would not be too impressed with the situation and would seek other options. The mid-season break is only a few races away, and Maranello must put forth better conditions and achieve a great turnaround in performance.

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