Rosberg: Too much self-confidence behind Vettel's mistakes

Former Formula One driver Nico Rosberg believes Sebastian Vettel's title challenge has slumped because of his individual mistakes and Ferrari's reluctance to use team orders, like Mercedes have this season.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is on the brink of his fifth world championship - and Vettel can only stop his title rival if he wins the three remaining races and Lewis gets less than four points.

Rosberg said that Vettel's attempts at beating Hamilton to the fifth title status "hasn't gone very well for him".

"It's all about consistency and he's done the opposite. He's been all over the place, really, in the last couple of months," Rosberg, who beat Hamilton to the 2016 drivers' championship, told F1's official website.

"Him and the team both together. It's been so one-sided since the summer it's unbelievable. 

"It was seemingly going to be Vettel who would take the championship and it's just gone completely one direction, been total dominance since. And just as a result of mistakes. And you're never going to beat Lewis like that because Lewis doesn't make mistakes. Very few."

Rosberg believes that Vettel has been too reluctant to back down.

"It's difficult to understand because you have to remember he's a four-times world champion who's done incredible performances. So I'm not really sure," Rosberg added.

"For me sometimes he wants too much in the moment always and can't think about the long game. He's also a little bit too self-confident sometimes. Which means he doesn't accept when someone else has, in that moment, maybe done a better job. You need to kind of accept, take a step back, (say) 'yep, the other guy's better in this moment and I'll get him back again a little bit further down the road.'"