Rosberg ranks Verstappen above Hamilton: "He gets better under pressure"

Nico Rosberg was until recently the last Formula 1 driver to beat Lewis Hamilton. He expressed his sympathy with his old teammate given the way he lost the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and with it the title, but on the other hand he thinks Max Verstappen is a completely deserved World Champion. This is evident from his personal top five drivers, which he published on his YouTube channel.

The former Mercedes driver ushers in his top five with the driver who for him was the best of the season: Max Verstappen. "He was just phenomenal," Rosberg began. He saw the Dutchman excel mainly in his consistent performance throughout the season and also saw him set very strong qualifying records.

Verstappen the deserved number one for Rosberg

"The level he showed against Lewis in that dominant form with Mercedes is incredible," continued the German. He also saw the Red Bull Racing driver excel in wheel-to-wheel battles. "Lewis is the best at that, but Verstappen was probably even better," he noted.

Something else that stood out for Rosberg is how well Verstappen performs under pressure. "Verstappen even seems to get better under high pressure. I got three tenths slower when I was under pressure, he gets two tenths faster," he continued. "Over the whole season, he's probably number one, especially considering he also had some more bad luck."