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F1 German Grand Prix: Wolff holds faith in Rosberg recovery

Toto Wolff is confident Nico Rosberg will bounce back from his frustrating run of form which culminated in a tricky German Grand Prix.

Since Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton's first-lap collision at the Spanish Grand Prix the German driver has seen a 43 point advantage wiped out and the defending F1 champion now holds a 19 point lead in the standings thanks to his fourth consecutive victory.

Despite starting on pole for the second consecutive race Rosberg lost the lead at turn one to Hamilton and further pain was forced upon the German when both Red Bull cars darted past on the opening lap at Hockenheim.

Rosberg's spirited fightback was dampened by a five-second time penalty for being judged to have pushed Max Verstappen off track in a overtaking move, while Mercedes made a blunder with its timing and held Rosberg in the pits for eight seconds instead of five.

Reacting to whether he feels Rosberg can battle back, Wolff says his driver understands he had a race to forget in Germany but holds strong belief the former championship leader can react strongly after the summer break at Spa.

"Big yes, we've seen him starting the season incredibly well and the end of season 2015 was very good and there's still nine races to go," Wolff said. "There's more than 200 points to collect, so more than 200 points to recover and everything goes.

"There is a human being in the car and on top of that the set up probably overheated the tyres. If you put that all together and you are having a bad day, that is the consequence. He is mentally very strong and nothing is done yet."

Zdroj: crash.net