German claims his first victory since June in Mexico City
Thursday 5 November 2015 11:45, UK
Nico Rosberg has proved he has the mettle to take the fight to Lewis Hamilton in 2016 with his Mexican GP win, according to Sky F1's Damon Hill.
Delivering a near-faultless performance just a week after his crushing defeat - on and off the track - in the United States, Rosberg rebuffed the newly-recrowned world champion to claim his first win since June's Austrian GP.
Rosberg has been dogged by speculation about his long-term future with Mercedes since Austin, making his resurgence at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez all the more timely.
"Nico Rosberg, on the day before the dead rise again, he has shown there is life in the old boy yet," remarked Hill in reference to Mexico's 'Day of the Dead' celebrations on Monday.
"It's a marker. Maybe Lewis wasn't on top form so Nico is going to keep on proving he has the pace. It is never going to be easy for Nico, but there isn't much between them - and Lewis is going to go away thinking 'I'm going to have to work hard to win any more races this year'."
For his part, however, the victorious Rosberg was adamant that he wouldn't consider his win a platform from which to build on for next season.
"I have two more races to go, this weekend I am here, it was a great motivation to try and win the race, I made it happen and I have two more to go. That is what I am focused on, not 2016 yet," Rosberg told Sky Sports F1.
"Coming to a new track it is a big challenge as you have no idea how to set up the car so you have to find your way quickly on that and driving-wise learn the track, learn the tricks, the best way to take the kerbs, and I just managed to find my way quickly.
"For the next couple of races, qualifying has been going pretty well, I don't know if it is a trend or not because I don't really have an explanation for it, but of course I am happy and I am on the right track at the moment."
Courtesy of his win and Sebastian Vettel's DNF, the Mercedes driver has returned to second place in the Drivers' Championship.
Rosberg had previously converted just two of his last 10 pole positions into victory but held his nerve off the line in Mexico City to fend off Hamilton. The deployment of the Safety Car saw the four-second advantage he had built up instantly wiped out but he kept his composure to retain the lead with a brief excursion off track representing his only noticeable error of the entire weekend.
"I think Nico has been very aware that when he has had the pole positions he hasn't capitalised. He's always been aware that into that first turn he needs to lead it and when he does he can control it," added Sky F1's Johnny Herbert.
