In 2014, Nico Rosberg headed to Europe while looking like a beaten man to all the world.
Despite inheriting a win at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, which gave him a strong initial lead in the drivers’ standings, the German had been comprehensively outperformed by Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton across the first four race weekends of the year.
Hamilton bounced back from his early retirement at Albert Park to win the following three races in Malaysia, Bahrain and China, constantly eroding Rosberg’s points lead and, indeed, his confidence.
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Although Rosberg could occasionally give Hamilton a fright—pipping his team-mate to pole position in Bahrain before shadowing him throughout the race—each passing grand prix seemed to reinforce the idea that many, including even Rosberg himself, had always suspected.
That he was inferior. That he was second-best. That he was Mercedes’ unofficial No. 2 driver. And, most worryingly, that he was no match for a driver of Hamilton’s calibre.
Yet F1’s return to Europe at the Spanish Grand Prix seemed to flick a switch. With three weeks to escape the rut and no doubt dissect just where it was all going wrong, Rosberg arrived at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a point to prove.
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And though he finished second behind Hamilton for the fourth race in succession, losing the championship lead in the process, the Spanish GP—where he was quicker than his team-mate, hounding him all the way to the chequered flag—seemed to act as a springboard for a Rosberg resurgence.
Over the next seven races on European soil, the German took six pole positions and three victories, finishing off the podium only twice as his championship challenge regained momentum.
For much of that period it was he, not Hamilton, who could do no wrong, who (generally) benefited from good fortune and who looked increasingly worthy of a title triumph, so much so that by the end of the European season at September’s Italian GP, Rosberg had a 22-point advantage over Hamilton.
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Rosberg was the king of the continent.
Following the opening four events of the 2015 season—which has seen the German’s status alongside Hamilton, again with three wins to his name at this early stage, questioned once more—it was imperative for Rosberg to raise his head and retain his throne.
And he made the best possible start to the European leg of the season on Saturday, securing an ultimately comfortable pole position in Spain, his second in three years at the Barcelona track.
PROVISIONAL GRID (FRONT):
1 ROS 2 HAM
3 VET 4 BOT
5 SAI 6 VES
7 RAI 8 KVY
9 MAS 10 RIC
#SpanishGP #GPEspana #Quali pic.twitter.com/6ZqncEOJGZ— Formula 1 (@F1) May 9, 2015
After spending the first part of the season trying to address his weaknesses of 2014, which only led to a loss of identity, Rosberg played to his strengths for the first time since last November’s Brazilian GP, the scene of his most recent victory, and, tellingly, was rewarded with a first pole of the year.
It was a vintage Rosberg performance, one that saw the German gradually pressurise and chip away at Hamilton as the session progressed before producing the decisive lap when it really mattered, as evidenced by the gaps between the two drivers throughout qualifying.
Just 0.108 seconds adrift of Hamilton in Q1, according to the official Formula One website, Rosberg upped his pace to finish Q2 almost 0.6 seconds ahead of his team-mate.
Perhaps startled by that deficit, Hamilton seemed to be lured into the trap of over-driving in Q3—Sky Sports’ Anthony Davidson notes the reigning world champion was too hasty on the throttle on the exit of Turn 2 before locking up at Turns 5 and 10—which only played further into the hands of Rosberg, who sealed pole by 0.267 seconds, breaking Hamilton’s 100 per cent record in qualifying in 2015.
Reverting to his 2014 form in qualifying may have worked handsomely for Rosberg on Saturday, but Sunday will put his supposedly new-and-improved approach in racing conditions to the ultimate test.
In the immediate aftermath of his title defeat to Hamilton in last season’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Rosberg, as per Sky Sports‘ Pete Gill and James Galloway, vowed to improve his performances in wheel-to-wheel battle after being passed by his team-mate with relative ease throughout 2014.
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Hamilton’s surge in form this season has meant the German has been unable to prove whether he has made any significant gains in this department; however, we did see flashes of promise in the Bahrain GP, where Rosberg overtook the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen with a series of forceful, assertive moves.
With Rosberg telling Sky Sports that Ferrari are unlikely to produce a serious threat to the Silver Arrows in Spain, the race is—as was the case throughout 2014—set to be a head-to-head fight between the Mercedes drivers, an examination of just how many lessons Rosberg has learned from last season.
In the buildup to the race weekend, Toto Wolff, Mercedes executive director, argued that his drivers—contrary to the 27-point difference between the pair—are closely matched this season. He told Autosport‘s Ian Parkes:
When you look at their performance in qualifying in China, for example, there were just four hundredths between them.
That is not someone (Rosberg) who is clearly beaten.
That is a tiny little edge which was enough for Lewis to make it on pole and control the race.
It could have been completely different if Nico had been on pole.
Finally with the advantage of pole, Rosberg now has a golden opportunity to exert some control of his own, to manipulate Hamilton’s race and to return to winning ways.
Whether or not he can will determine if he can still produce a meaningful championship challenge in 2015, or if form, as they say, really is temporary.