Coulthard relates to Rosberg's dominance by Ham

David Coulthard knows exactly how it feels to have a team-mate with an upper hand vying for the championship.

Writing in his BBC column this week about Nico Rosberg's dominance by Lewis Hamilton, Coulthard remembered the years at McLaren when Mika Hakkinen's success shadowed the Scot's on-track performance.

"Having raced for six years as team-mate to Mika Hakkinen, I know what it is to be alongside a driver who fundamentally is just that bit faster."

"You are often left short by only a tenth of a second - but you are left short. You don't give up, and say: "Oh, he's better than me." You keep digging deep, and keep thinking of ways to win. You keep believing. That is an inherent part of being a sportsman."

Hamilton's triumph at Monza and Rosberg's empty score has helped the British driver increase his championship lead to 53 points, a margin most view as very difficult to make up for the German who has been clearly outpaced by his team mate this season.

"It is never over until it is over - Hamilton could have a run of bad luck with accidents and reliability. You never know.," added Coulthard.

"But if we are frank, at hardly any point this year has Rosberg looked a match for Hamilton."

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