Lewis Hamilton: Nico Rosberg needs to shut up and stop complaining
LEWIS HAMILTON has told Nico Rosberg to shut up and stop moaning saying the German's post China Grand Prix whinge has "no bearing on my life".
Rosberg complained about Hamilton "only thinking about himself" when dropping his pace to protect his tyres in Shanghai. Instead of pushing to overtake the race leader, Rosberg asked the team to tell Hamilton to speed up and was more worried about being overtaken by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton said: "I don't even know what his point is. The team made a one-two [finish]. It has no bearing on me right now.
"They said maybe he was just comfortable in second. And that's the difference between us. I want to win always and I would have done everything to have got past.
"I want to win. I was pushing as hard as I could. I was on the edge, oversteering, and that's what racing is about.
"There were times last year when I hadn't won and there are moments you do get frustrated. My approach is that you've always got to do a better job. Last year, if I had lost to him [Rosberg] in qualifying or whatever and then, if don't do it in the race and come second, I would just come away and start from ground zero and try and be better the next time. That's how I approach it.
"But different people do it different ways. It [Rosberg's rant] has no bearing on me right now."
Rosberg admits Hamilton relationship is a challenge [AMBIENT]
I want to race man. I'm the ultimate race dude
Rosberg is enduring a season to forget already, with just three races of 19 consigned to the record books from the 2015 calendar and Bahrain up next this weekend. His widely given praise for being 'the intelligent one' seems both irrelevant and odd when the fastest man takes all the plaudits; Rosberg has been out-thought on the track.
He has even had a verbal kick up the backside from Mercedes chief Niki Lauda, who said the German is beyond his help and must effectively pull his finger out because he is "behind Lewis".
Whether or not it was intelligent to throw your toys out of your pram so publicly as Rosberg did in the post-match press conference is open to debate. But Hamilton chose to use his brain, stopping short of calling Rosberg's rant irrelevant and choosing his words carefully.
"I just said to the guys, if I was in second and I had the pace I had in the race, I would have been pushing to be as close as possible to pass him. That's racing. Nico didn't try.
"Take a step back, this is motor racing man. It is racing. Don't take away the fun of the racing - it's racing!
"I want the guy to be up my a**e if he has got that pace to be up my a**e and putting pressure on me. I want to race man. I'm the ultimate race dude."
