Time for Rosberg to deliver

Lewis Hamilton started the season with an easy victory in Australia, while Sebastian Vettel stunned Formula 1 with his breathtaking win in Malaysia. Now it’s Nico Rosberg’s turn to claim the chequered flag, and this weekends’ Chinese Grand Prix is vital for the German.

Over the winter, Rosberg promised to come back stronger after his defeat to Hamilton last year. However, so far the gap between them has only widened.

Rosberg’s qualifying brilliance has disappeared. The side-effect of his failure to pass the Englishman on track is desperation to beat him to pole position. So far, he’s fallen well short and even qualified behind Vettel in Malaysia.

The German seems to have lost some of his confidence, while Hamilton looks as good as ever. In Australia, he may have won by only 1.5s, but in reality it could have been a whole lap.

Rosberg is already ten points behind Hamilton in the championship. If that extends even further in China and Bahrain, then the defending champion will be tough to catch.

Make no mistake, Mercedes’ drivers are still the overwhelming favourites for the title despite Ferrari’s win in Malaysia. The cooler conditions in Shanghai are expected to see Mercedes dominate again, with Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen firmly in the background.

Rosberg needs to send a statement sooner rather than later, showing Hamilton that this season will even harder than last. He is capable of beating his rival, as he showed in both Monaco and Brazil last season.

When he’s at his best, Rosberg is very hard to stop but he’s currently stuck in a run of defeats and Hamilton is having it easy. In China, the two-time champion has won three times and will be confident of making it four. Rosberg needs to stop him.

If he doesn’t get the better of him soon, then this championship could start to run away from him very quickly.

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