Rosberg critical of Mercedes: 'If you decide to take risks, do it properly'

Mercedes was closer to a victory at the Dutch Grand Prix than it has been so far in 2022. However, the German team had to concede to local hero Max Verstappen, who won his home race in Zandvoort for the second time in a row. Nico Rosberg is critical of Mercedes' strategy and says the team could never have taken victory this way.

Rosberg critical of Mercedes

"If you decide to take a risk to go for the win, as they wanted to do with keeping Lewis Hamilton on the medium, then do it properly!", Rosberg told Sky Sports. According to Rosberg, Mercedes should not have brought in George Russell if the team wanted to increase Lewis Hamilton's chances. Russell himself asked for a change to softs during the late safety car, which helped him himself to second place, but at the same time took away Hamilton's backing.

"The way they did it now was just never really gonna work because Max was too quick from the get go with that soft tyre," Rosberg continued. The German saw his former Formula One team take a risk by leaving Hamilton out while Verstappen dived in for a set of new softs. At that point, the team should have decided to let Russell out as well in an attempt to hold off Verstappen, according to the analyst.

Hamilton not only lost the lead but was passed by his teammate, only to fall outside the podium. "That's really not a nice feeling, trust me on that one," Rosberg stressed. He fully understands Hamilton's outburst on team radio and suspects the Mercedes driver will be banging his fist on the table during the internal discussions.