Rosberg: I’m 'always strongest' after tough moments

Nico Rosberg claims he is “always strongest after difficult moments, with the Mercedes driver looking to recapture his early 2016 form after Formula One’s summer break.

The German opened his campaign with a perfect run of four wins in as many events to open a 43-point gap over Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Since then, Rosberg has seen his title rival erase the entire deficit and stretch his lead to 19 points at last weekend’s German GP.

Asked after the Hockenheim race whether it will be tough to bounce back, Rosberg emphatically replied: “No. Because I have enough evidence from myself to show that I am always strongest after difficult moments, time and time again. So no issues there.”

After losing out to Hamilton in the title hunt last year, Rosberg admitted to feeling “pretty dark” but managed to reel off three consecutive wins to close his 2015 campaign on a high.

Toto Wolff is equally confident the German, whom he recently re-signed for another two seasons, will fight back.

“We’ve seen him starting the season incredibly well and the end of season 2015 was very good and there’s still nine races to go,” the Mercedes motorsport boss said. “There are more than 200 points to collect, so more than 200 points to recover.”

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