Lewis Hamilton: Nico Rosberg reveals ONE thing Ferrari need to beat Mercedes in Baku

That’s the belief of former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg.

Mercedes are on for a fourth straight one-two finish to open the 2019 season with Valtteri Bottas leading the grid in Baku and Lewis Hamilton starting from second.

The Silver Arrows sealed a surprising front-row lock-out after Ferrari’s form man Charles Leclerc crashed into the turn eight barriers in the second session of qualifying.

Hamilton has won both of the last two races and jumped Bottas from the start in China two weeks ago.

But ex-Mercedes driver Rosberg believes a restart from the safety car could mix things up at the Baku City Circuit.

With Leclerc starting from the middle of the pack, Sebastian Vettel  starts in third and provided he avoids any chaos will hope to be primed to pounce on any Mercedes errors.

The German told his official YouTube channel: “The race, Baku always has exciting races because as long as we get a safety car restart, the restarts are amazing. 

“It’s so difficult to get the restarts right when you’re leading. That’s going to be a lot of fun to watch those restarts. 

“And let’s not forget, watching Leclerc is going to be enjoyable. 

“He’s starting 10th [Leclerc actually starts from 9th due to Antonio Giovinazzi’s grid penalty] but he’s on the harder tyre so he can go forever on that tyre and the other guys are going to have to pit at some point after 20-30 laps, especially if there’s bigger degradation than expected. 

“Then Leclerc could really make his way through. You can overtake as well on the track. That could really provide some entertaining stuff. 

“Who knows? Maybe with a bit of luck, Leclerc can go all the way forward and challenge for a podium or even the race win. He’s really damn fast this weekend.”

Asked by one fan who he expects to win the race, Rosberg backed Finnish driver Bottas to again reclaim the championship lead from Hamilton.

Yet Rosberg acknowledged that his former rival Hamilton has a penchant for reaping high-level performance when he needs it most.

Rosberg added: “You’d have to say Bottas for the win. 

“Somehow I have this feeling that Lewis always gets it right when it matters. 

“Betting man, I’ll go for Bottas. He’s not going to mess up the start this weekend.”

Hamilton leads his Mercedes team-mate by eight points in the standings, with Bottas boasting an extra point for the fastest lap from Melbourne back in March.

source: express.co.uk