Nico Rosberg has warned Mercedes that they must keep Sir Lewis Hamilton motivated after his nightmare weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Hamilton was thoroughly out-performed by team-mate George Russell throughout the weekend in Bologna, and he was seen venting with team boss Toto Wolff when he qualified 13th on Friday, two positions behind the 24-year-old.
A “processional” sprint race, in the eyes of Russell, saw himself and Hamilton finish 11th and 14th respectively, but it was in the race that the talents of the former Williams driver shone through.
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He made a tremendous start to climb into the top 10, and would eventually end the grand prix in fourth, while Hamilton spent much of the race behind Pierre Gasly, and crossed the line in P14 before an unsafe release penalty for Esteban Ocon bumped the Briton up to 13th.
The 37-year-old was understandably downcast after the race, and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff highlighted that the Mercedes car works better in clear air than it does in traffic as he tried to alleviate the pressure on his driver.
“I think we saw with George how the car can drive if we are in free air but we are not good enough for a world champion, not worthy for a world champion, we just need to fix the car,” he affirmed.
The Austrian also apologised to the 103-time race winner over the radio for the “terrible race” that derived from an “undriveable” car, and Rosberg labelled this “smart,” emphasising that the Silver Arrows need to maintain Hamilton’s spirits in order to sustain longevity in their fight to return to the top.
“It’s important for the whole team and it’s quite easy for Lewis to lose it in these kinds of situations,” he told Sky Sports.
Wolff’s remarks to Hamilton were relatively superficial in the eyes of the 2016 world champion, as there is no escaping the fact that, while he finished outside the points, Russell managed 12 points in fourth.
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“[Mercedes were] taking the blame themselves, really trying to support Lewis mentally, lifting him up and saying ‘hey Lewis, none of your doing, it’s really on us,’ so that’s very smart because it’s not quite the truth,” he explained.
“Let’s remember that Russell is in P4, you know with that same car so Lewis definitely has a big role to play in that poor result this weekend.
“Russell still managed to get P4 out of it with a brilliant weekend so there was more in that car so really Toto was just trying to lift him up.”
Hamilton declared himself out of the title race in the aftermath of the grand prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, and he now sits seventh in the Drivers’ Championship after Lando Norris’ outstanding podium.
Rosberg conceded that it was “tough” to see his former team-mate and rival struggle so much at Imola.