'Party animal' Hamilton vs 'couch potato' Rosberg

As far as one German newspaper is concerned, the contrast between Mercedes' two drivers could not be more stark.

In the three-week 'break' between Bahrain and Spain, Nico Rosberg stayed with his pregnant wife in their Monaco apartment and made one trip to their second home in Ibiza.

Hamilton, on the other hand, is the "party animal" to Rosberg's "couch potato", the major German daily Bild headlined.

The newspaper said Hamilton racked up 45,000 kilometres in his red, $30 million private Bombadier jet during the F1 calendar gap.

He collected his dog Roscoe from Monaco and travelled to London, from there flew to a photo shoot in Mallorca, attended a Mercedes event at Monza, visited friends in Los Angeles and then watched the Floyd Mayweather fight in Las Vegas before heading to a fashion show in New York.

World champion Hamilton, who is dominating the 2015 season so far, then returned to Europe for a stint in Mercedes' simulator before travelling to Barcelona.

According to Bild, it was akin to circumnavigating the globe.

"I am probably the happiest I have been for a long, long time. Career-wise and then outside (F1)," said the Briton as he prepared for the Spanish grand prix on Thursday.

Elsewhere, German Rosberg was being asked by a reporter in Barcelona if he has become "a bit slower" in 2015, perhaps as a result of losing the "psychological" war to his on-form teammate.

"Thank you very much for your kind question!" Rosberg replied sarcastically.

"Of course the results speak for themselves. It's pretty clear. That's it."

But as well as getting on terms with Hamilton, the struggling 29-year-old Rosberg must also look nervously over his shoulder, as Sebastian Vettel is just a single point behind and this weekend at the wheel of a vastly-upgraded Ferrari.

"Yes, there's not much in it," Rosberg told Bild.

"But I have a better car and in qualifying our advantage is even bigger," he added.

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