Autosportfoto

F1 Hungarian GP: Rosberg: I am not counting the points…

Nico Rosberg insists he is not going to dwell on ceding the Formula 1 World Championship lead for the first time in 2016 despite letting a 43 point lead over Lewis Hamilton slip over the last six races.

Four wins from the first four races - coupled to a DNF for both Mercedes drivers in Spain - gave Rosberg a sizeable advantage over Hamilton as recently as the Monaco Grand Prix, but a single victory against his rival's five from the next six rounds has seen the Briton nose ahead following the Hungarian Grand Prix.

On a day that saw him trail Hamilton after a poor start from pole position allowed his team-mate to get the jump from turn one and control the pace thereafter, a stoic Rosberg maintains he is not 'counting points' at this half-way point in the season.

"It is very close," he said. "It has been a good season so far up to now... as I have always said I am not counting the points, there is still a long way to go and everything is possible. I just want to focus on winning races. It didn't work today unfortunately losing out in turn one.

Indeed, Rosberg says a 'tight' first corner squeeze between Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo ultimately proved critical for his victory hopes.

"The race was decided there," he continued. "My start was OK but I was slightly down on Lewis' start and Daniel also, then Daniel got a tow and Lewis had the inside line. It got a bit tight between the two of them so I had to back out, I was able to get back second place around the outside but I lost the win there.

"Now I move my focus to Hockenheim, which is my home race. Looking forward to racing there, I love the track."

Zdroj: crash.net