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

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14:44, 31 Dec 2021

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."

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	292
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	211
3	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	191
4	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	186
5	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	167
6	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	145
7	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	120
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	71
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	59
10	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	41
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	31
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	27
13	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	10
15	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	7
16	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
17	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
18	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
19	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	3
20	Yuki Tsunoda Yuki Tsunoda	Racing BullsRCB	1
21	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
23	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0

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

Verstappen the deserved number one for Rosberg

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