Nico Rosberg believes Lewis Hamilton could win a record eighth Formula 1 world title next season, but admits he would not necessarily be happy for his former teammate and rival.
Rosberg and Hamilton were teammates at Mercedes for four seasons and battled it out for the world title between 2014 and 2016. Hamilton beat Rosberg in 2014 and 2015, before the German ultimately prevailed in 2016 and retired from the sport.
Despite their rivalry, Rosberg does believe Hamilton can challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen next year. "We've seen flashes of brilliance from the Mercedes team just recently," Rosberg recently told the Daily Mail.
"They lack consistency. But look at Austin. They were challenging for the win there and actually had the fastest car over the weekend. So we've seen that they're starting to understand the car, and they just have the problem that you still lack consistency.
"They still lack in straight line performance, but they are starting to understand all that. I believe in Mercedes ability because I was there. I know how strong they are. It's always still the same people.
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"So certainly there is a chance that Hamilton could once again fight for the championship next year." However, Rosberg had a telling response when asked if he would be happy if Hamilton won his eighth world title next year.
"I would be happy if Mercedes won, because that's kind of my racing family from the past," he replied. "But then Lewis, I'm neutral there. I just would like a great fight for the championship, and may the best driver win. But I'm not biased in that sense, obviously."
Rosberg believes Lewis Hamilton could beat Max Verstappen next season (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)And Hamilton is also confident Mercedes will be much stronger next season, telling BBC Sport last month: "I do believe we have a North Star now. Which I don't think we've had for two years. But still getting there is not a straight line.
"And there were just certain things, decisions that have been made, that just left you blocked at the end of a road, and you can't do anything because of the cost cap and all these different things. If you look at the Red Bull - and they have done an amazing job - from Bahrain last year, they had a bouncing issue and they fixed it that week.
"I think we understand the car so much better. They have developed great tools in the background. So, naturally, I'm hopeful. But I'm not going to hold my breath."
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