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  Formula One: Nico Rosberg wary of Hamilton backlash

Formula One: Nico Rosberg wary of Hamilton backlash

AFP
Published : Apr 19, 2016, 6:27 am IST
Updated : Apr 19, 2016, 6:27 am IST

Nico Rosberg is refusing to get ahead of himself after extending his perfect start to the 2016 Formula One season with a crushing victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg is refusing to get ahead of himself after extending his perfect start to the 2016 Formula One season with a crushing victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The German became the 10th driver to win the first three races of the season in Shanghai — the previous nine all going on to win the world title.

Rosberg quickly dismissed that statistic, however, pointing at the brooding figure of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, who has form when it comes to wiping out chunky leads.

“They didn’t have Lewis Hamilton as a team-mate, those other nine,” Rosberg told reporters after pushing his championship lead over Hamilton to 36 points.

“It’s a handful of races in the longest season ever, another 18 to go. To win the first three is awesome, but I never expected it to go that way,” he added with the next race in Russia on May 1 already looking pivotal.

“It’s great to win, it’s what I race for. But Lewis Hamilton is my team-mate, double world champion, hard to beat in the previous two, three years. Lewis will never give up.”

Rosberg also became only the fourth driver to win six consecutive races — joining Sebastian Vettel (nine), Alberto Ascari (seven) and Michael Schumacher (six) — after winning the last three of 2015.

Hamilton, yet to win since clinching his third world title in Texas last October, was licking his wounds after he battled back to finish seventh from last on the grid after a mechanical failure in qualifying.

Location: China, Shanghai