Formula 1 2016 - Rosberg's perfect start

Let's not beat about the bush. 2015 was not a good year for Nico Rosberg. He was comprehensively beaten by Lewis Hamilton, who wrapped up the drivers championship with three rounds to go, in the USA. But since that day, Hamilton has not won a race. Rosberg took the last three victories of 2015. But he hasn't stopped there. After three races, in a thrilling start to the season, Rosberg has 75 points on the board. Three wins from three. A 36 point gap to Hamilton in the championship. Yes, some luck has been involved. But the 2016 Nico is miles better than the 2015 Nico. More hungry than ever before. More determined to beat Lewis than ever before. And with Ferrari snapping at Mercedes heals, he has done exactly what he needed to do. Despite Nico's strong end to 2015, and better pace than Lewis in pre-season testing, not everyone was convinced Nico could beat Hamilton. Lewis is after all the champion of the last two seasons, and one of the fastest drivers on the grid. But Nico is no slouch. His run of six pole positions at the end of last year shows that, and he is the only team-mate to have beaten Lewis in qualifying over a whole season, back in 2014. Make no mistake. Nico has the speed of a world champion.

But having the speed is only half of the story. We know how good Lewis can overtake, he is an out and out racer. With Nico, there has always been the perception that he is not that good at overtaking. That is unfair on Nico. Perhaps this judgement has come about due to the fact Nico has only recently been at the sharp end of the grid. Go back to his earlier years in the sport, and he is far from a poor overtaker. Brazil 2007 stands out as one of his best performances. In that race, Nico was involved in a fantastic scrap for position with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. In a Williams that, at best, was average, he battle for position with the two faster BMW's,  It was a highlight of that race, and one I remember very well. He finished the race in fourth place, nearly ten seconds ahead of Kubica and less than ten seconds behind third place Fernando Alonso in a title challenging McLaren.

Whilst Nico has yet to really overtake anyone this year, being in the fastest car on the grid means that isn't always needed, everything he has done has been inch perfect. The strategy gamble he and Mercedes played in Melbourne was ultimately the right thing to do. Ferrari opted for the super-soft tyre's for the safety car restart (after Alonso's crash with Gutierrez's Haas'). Mercedes went for the medium tyre, and whilst Sebastian Vettel had to pit again, Rosberg did not. Victory was this sealed. Then in Bahrain, after coming so close to pole position, Rosberg stared yet again.

A Meteoric start got him ahead of Hamilton into turn one, and after Hamilton made contact with the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, Rosberg never looked back. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen kept him honest but couldn't threaten Nico fully, partly down to a poor start for the Finn, dropping him to fifth place. Ferriar's challenge took a bigger hit even before the race begun. Vettel's engine let go spectacularly on the formation lap, wrecking his chances of victory. It was the first time Ferrari had lost a car on the way to the grid since France 1996, when Michael Schumacher had an engine failure after initially being in pole position. Unfazed by all that was happening around him, Rosberg secured his fifth victory in a row. A star performance. But could he make it six in a row in China, the scene of his first victory in 2012?

With Hamilton suffering an ERS failure in qualifying, the battle for pole was between Rosberg and the two Ferrai's. Initially it was Kimi Raikkonen who topped Q3, the Finnish driver had looked to have more pace all weekend than team-mate Vettel. But come the last moments of the session, both Ferrari drivers made mistakes when it mattered, and not only did Rosberg take a commanding pole position, it was Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull that joined him on the front row. Crucially though in Q2, Rosberg and Mercedes had qualified on the soft tyre, those around him had not. On race day, Ricciardo got a better start than Rosberg, and as the two made their escape, chaos reigned behind them. Both Ferrari's collided after Kvyat rocketed into third "like a torpedo" according to Vettel. Further behind, Hamilton was caught up in the Ferrari mess, and clipped the Sauber of Felipe Nasr, losing his front wing. Then on lap three, as Nico lined up a pass down the back-straight on Ricciardo, more bad luck befelled his challengers. Ricciardo's left rear let go, thanks to debris from the earlier turn one mess. And with that, Nico shot off into the distance, not looking back one bit. Hamilton, on a bizarre tyre strategy and after his turn one contact, wound up in seventh place. He is now 36 points behind Rosberg in the standings. The biggest lead Rosberg had in 2014 was 29 points. It's going to be even tougher for Lewis to recover in 2016. Rosberg has staked his claim for the world championship. Now its up to him to carry on with this momentum. If he does, we may see a new world champion come the end of the year.