Nico Rosberg explains why Charles Leclerc would have an advantage over Lewis Hamilton once season stars

Nico Rosberg explains why Charles Leclerc would be having an advantage over Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel once the season starts.

The Formula 1 season is still almost a month away as the normal calendar had to be postponed because of the widespread of Coronavirus globally.

This compelled all the team drivers to remain at their homes, aloof of minutes on the wheels. The only resort which kept them close to the sport was virtual F1 gaming.

And Nico Rosberg thinks this is the reason why drivers like Leclerc will be having an advantage over veteran drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton once the season starts.

“If I was still racing, I would be in the simulator every single day, spending hours in there,” he said on the build-up to the Azerbaijan Virtual Grand Prix. “I’m convinced that’s still going to help you a tiny bit to keep training your skills.

“Imagine Roger Federer, if he didn’t train on a tennis court for five months and he would come back the first day back, he would be nowhere.” he further said.

“The skill for the F1 driver, it’s the same. I think in the simulator you have a small chance of training some of that skill and keeping the level up. Therefore I would be maximising it.

“It will be interesting to see because we see some driers doing it more than others. I wonder if they’ll have an advantage when the racing gets going again. I would bet on that, that they will have an advantage.”

Rosberg explained that there is an ‘out-of-practice’ feeling after a winter break, which will only be exaggerated this year due to the season’s delay.

“I remember so vividly my first outing after the winter break, the winter break was three months long-only, and this is five months now. The first run out, you just feel the compacity in your mind is so much less. You’re maxed out just trying to drive fast.

“You have no capacity left to memorise things or work on the settings. You just feel rusty and those guys are going to be feeling it too. So I’m sure every little bit you can do will help.”

When several F1 drivers engaged themselves in the virtual gaming amidst the lockdown, Hamilton was one of the few drivers who refused to participate in F1 virtual GPs.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Read More