Rosberg preparing for tougher times after perfect start

Championship leader Nico Rosberg is getting prepared to go through tougher times later in the 2016 Formula One season, after the Mercedes man enjoyed a dream start to his campaign.

Rosberg has comfortably won the first four races and opened a 43-point gap over team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who has suffered his fair share of problems in the mean time.

The German previously admitted that his rivals’ issues have made his life easier so far, but he is quick to dismiss the idea that he simply breezed through the initial flyaway events.

“Winning F1 races is not like an open goal, I must say that!” Rosberg replied to reporters suggesting he has had an easy run. “I don’t think that’s a great comparison. But anyway, of course it’s not something I could have expected, winning four races, of course not.

“But now that’s the way it is and I’ve been happy with it and it’s been very enjoyable. I’m aware it won’t continue like that forever, that’s for sure.

“Sport is all about ups and downs and the down will come at some point and I just need to mentally prepare for that to then come straight back up when that does happen.”

Rosberg has consistently talked up Ferrari since pre-season testing. However, the 30-year-old, who finished 32 seconds ahead of third-placed Kimi Raikkonen at the recent Russian Grand Prix, admits he was stunned by the gap to the Scuderia in Sochi.

“I was surprised, yes. We have always said that they were close but last weekend they were not close at all and that’s impressive to see.

“We need to try to understand that now because we don’t understand it, but for sure the [Sochi Autodrom] asphalt is very unique so that must be part of it. It was an impressive car performance this weekend.

Rosberg adds that his perfect 100-point tally is a testament to Mercedes’ achievements in the current 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged era.

“It’s special to have a car like this for the third year in a row now, I don’t think anybody has had that in the history of the sport either — to have such an awesome car for such a long time.

“There has been periods of dominance for sure, but it’s still so special. I connected really well with the car [in Russia], I had this feeling of confidence and I knew I could push and I knew that nothing was going to go wrong or anything like that.”

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