With the finishing line of the 2016 season now on the horizon, the ultimate prize is in Nico Rosberg’s sights – the world championship. He has been presented with an opportunity that he must grasp with both hands because, with regulation changes afoot over the coming seasons, it could be now or never for the champion elect.
Heading to Brazil, Rosberg leads teammate Lewis Hamilton by 19 points with 50 left on the table, meaning a win for Rosberg around Interlagos confirms him as champion. Any other result and the championship is likely to go to a showdown at sundown in Abu Dhabi unless Hamilton fails to finish, in which case Rosberg would only need to outscore his teammate by seven points.
While the metaphorical cards of the game are all in Rosberg’s hands, as finishing second in both races remaining would still give him the championship, we all know Hamilton is doing everything he can in the hope that his teammate is the victim of misfortune.
In the past two seasons Rosberg has lost out on the championship to Hamilton for one reason or another. Now he has the opportunity to take the glory for himself, but he seems to have overcome his greatest weakness in recent years: crumbling under the pressure.
At the Mexican Grand Prix it was apparent that Rosberg was struggling for pace against Hamilton throughout the weekend, however a superb last-gasp run in qualifying brought him back into play and put him on the front row alongside his teammate.
In the race he was permanently under threat from the Red Bull cars of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, but it served as an example for me that the title pressure was starting to mount; was that why Rosberg was struggling?
In races gone by this season, Rosberg has been untouchable at times, taking nine victories and eight pole positions so far to snatch the title advantage.
Many may argue that his success this year has been down to Hamilton’s misfortune, something that just does not matter in the grand scheme of things, since Rosberg has done what he needed to do when it counts.
Rosberg has racked up 23 victories and 30 pole positions in his career to date, more than any other driver without a world championship – a statistic he will no doubt want to shake off.
It’s very simple to say that to go and win in Brazil would give him the title, however, the pressure is mounting now, day by day.
To take the world championship would silence so many of his critics and I’ll hold my hands up and admit I used to be one of them, yet he has shown that he is more than a match for Hamilton and can be just as good behind the wheel.
But now with the pressure at its peak and despite everything looking to be in his favour, can Rosberg overcome the biggest weakness in his abilities? It’s now or never for him to not crack under the strain, and to complete the job he set out to do at the start of the year. This is a chance that may not come around again.
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