Rosberg identifies Ferrari’s biggest weakness after another ‘messy’ weekend
Photo: Race Pictures
Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Nico Rosberg believes Ferrari’s tendency to endure “messy weekends” is holding the team back, despite having a car capable of consistently challenging at the front.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show podcast after the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in Madrid, the 2016 world champion said Ferrari too often fail to put a complete weekend together, insisting that strategy has "always been a weakness".
Lewis Hamilton retired from the race with brake issues, while Charles Leclerc finished fourth after a long opening stint on the hard tyres. Ferrari's qualifying pace, and reliability in Hamilton's case, let them down in Madrid, but there have been times this season when there strategy has come under fire this season.
“Isn’t it the case that Ferrari always have messy weekends?” Rosberg said. “It’s just the Achilles heel is still in the strategy area, communications area, that’s always been a weakness and still is a weakness of theirs now.”
Rosberg argued that Ferrari’s outright pace should be enough to make them consistent contenders for victories. He pointed to Lewis Hamilton’s race as evidence that the Scuderia had the speed to take a strong result.
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“The pace of the car is damn close to being able to challenge consistently for race wins, and even this weekend, Lewis would have been a comfortable second position in the race on Sunday,” he added.
“He would have finished second after Max had to let him through. So he would have definitely finished second place behind Kimi, quite easily.”
Hamilton concedes title to Antonelli
Hamilton is now 101 points behind Kimi Antonelli in the standings, and the Brit has conceded hopes of winning a record eighth drivers' championship in 2026.
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Speaking to Sky F1 shortly after his Spanish GP retirement, Hamilton was asked whether Antonelli was now "hard to stop." The 41-year-old replied: "I think there's no stopping him and Mercedes this year, they've done a phenomenal job and they deserve it.
Explaining his issues in Madrid he added: "I hit the brake, the car started stopping, and then the pedal took a step. The car didn't decelerate as fast as it normally [would], so I ended up carrying a lot of speed in. And then, yeah, brushed the barrier, and then after that pedal came back, it was fine, and then I think a few corners later on, the pedal went long. I don't really know what that's all about."
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