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Lewis Hamilton’s ‘resurgence’ at Ferrari is putting Charles Leclerc in a ‘super dark’ place, Nico Rosberg says.
Hamilton bagged his first win for Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday, ending the team’s long drought in the process. Carlos Sainz had been their most recent victor (at the 2024 Mexico City GP).
Meanwhile, Leclerc was running sixth when he suffered a power steering failure late in the race, which led to a second consecutive DNF.
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Nico Rosberg: This is a ‘mentally tough’ moment for Charles Leclerc
Hamilton had already leapfrogged Leclerc in the standings with his P2 finish in Monaco last time out, and he has now extended the gap to 40 points.
Last year, he wound up 86 points behind his teammate and only finished ahead of him in three Grands Prix.
The Monegasque recently signed a new contract that will see him become Ferrari’s longest-serving driver, but he has crashed out twice since and failed to score a point.
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Nico Rosberg, who lost out on the title to Hamilton at Mercedes in 2014 and 2015, says it’s a ‘mentally tough’ period for Leclerc.
Asked if Leclerc should be encouraged by the performance of Ferrari’s Barcelona GP upgrades, Rosberg said: “Not at all. Believe me. He just signed a contract with Ferrari. Big, big money, long term. He was the king of Ferrari, the whole country.
“Now, suddenly, he has the greatest of all time [having a] resurgence in form, driving spectacularly, taking the first race win.
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“This is tough. He’s struggling, doing accidents, crashing, not driving as fast. This is really a mentally tough moment for him to get out of. It’s super dark, and he’s going to have to try and get out of it now as quickly as possible.”
Leclerc hasn’t finished below a teammate in the standings since 2021 when he was racing alongside Sainz.
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