Rosberg hits out at Hamilton: 'Valtteri beats him quite a few times'

Lewis Hamilton has had a tough season. Where the British driver had to count on little opposition in recent years, this season with Max Verstappen was different. According to Nico Rosberg, the situation caused Hamilton to perform less than in recent years.

The seven-time world champion was at the beginning of the season the favourite to end the world championship-winning, but nothing was further from the truth. The Mercedes driver had to give up to Red Bull Racing before the summer break. Although the German team was able to fight for the world title again in August due to improvements, Mercedes came up just short in the last race in Abu Dhabi.

When Rosberg compares the two competitors he thinks Verstappen has had a better season. The German does not believe this was entirely down to Hamilton. "The car was a bit more up and down", Rosberg says on his YouTube channel, after which he also criticizes Hamilton. "Valtteri beats him quite a few times in qualifying".

Rosberg and Hamilton have a history with each other. In 2016, Rosberg managed to battle with his teammate, with the drivers still doing very little to please each other. Among other things, it resulted in a crash in Barcelona that allowed Verstappen to take his first win. Rosberg won the world title in 2016.