Rosberg needs to learn from Hamilton, not criticise

So he’s done it. Lewis Hamilton is now a three-times World Champion, joining the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquest, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and, of course, Sebastian Vettel.

Say what you like about Hamilton, and he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, his third title was fully deserved. There was almost an air of inevitability about it at the start of the season. Yes we knew that the Mercedes was going to be the class of the field again, but you just sort of knew that Nico Rosberg wouldn’t have enough to take the fight to the end of the season.

That’s not to take anything away from Rosberg. All season he has given spirited performances and demonstrated that he is more than capable of being a World Champion, but he just doesn’t have that same air of confidence about him like Hamilton does.

Rosberg was none too happy about Hamilton’s perceived aggressiveness at the start of the US Grand Prix. At the first turn, Hamilton came from behind and banged wheels with Rosberg, forcing the German off the track and demoting him to fourth. And therein lies the difference between the two. The Mercedes teammates are almost comparable to the infamous pairing of Prost and Senna in the late 1980s (ignoring the fact Rosberg hasn't won a world title).

Senna would force a gap out of nothing. He would plant his car on the inside and let the other driver decide if there was going to be an accident – just ask Martin Brundle. His determination to win at all costs often saw him branded reckless and outright dangerous, and arguably he was on occasions – Japan 1990 is but one example.

Prost, on the other hand, was a far more calculating driver. Smart and shrewd, he was a human calculator in the cockpit. While he would always go out to win, he wouldn’t take what he perceived to be unnecessary risks. If it was a safer bet mathematically to stay in third place, then that’s what he would do. And yet he won four world titles, one more than Senna.

Both men, though, had a tendency to complain when things hadn’t gone their way, sometimes in the heat of the moment, but that’s ok, because that’s what we expect from sports stars. We have to let them moan to the camera, we have to let them blow off steam. The tension between Hamilton and Rosberg in the pre-podium room after the race was cringe-worthy. Hamilton tossed a cap to Rosberg, but Rosberg threw it back, and play-fighting it was not.

The real reason for Rosberg’s downcast demeanor is very likely more to do with the fact that he failed to be beat Hamilton in equal machinery for the second year in succession, rather than feel aggrieved by Hamilton’s aggressive driving. It would be easy to blame the other guy for your loss than to accept the reality of being beaten fair and square.

It’s worth pointing out that Rosberg has been unluckier with reliability, and that hasn’t helped his title charge, and certainly that would impact on his confidence. It’s true that his car has cost him more points than his teammate’s aggressive driving.

“If you no longer go for gap, you’re no longer a racing driver” said Ayrton Senna. “This time he’s [Senna] gone too far” said Alain Prost. Sound familiar? And yet Senna is more favourably remembered than Prost, despite winning 10 less races and one less world title. Rosberg has the skill to be a World Champion, but not the killer instinct. And while comparing him to Prost based on results is unfair, their gloomy personas are quite similar.

If Rosberg is going to claw one back against Hamilton in 2016, he needs to drop the calculator and find a gap.