Hamilton comes into the new campaign with equalling the legendary Michael Schumacher’s records of 91 race wins and seven World Drivers’ Championship titles in his sights.
Mercedes’ impressive performance in pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya will have boosted the Brit’s confidence ahead of the upcoming Australian Grand Prix.
Rosberg, who of course secured F1 glory four years ago after a season-long battle with then-Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, is hoping the coming campaign isn’t too straightforward for his old team.
And he’s tipped Verstappen and fellow young gun Leclerc to take the fight to Hamilton – providing their respective Red Bull RB16 and Ferrari SF1000s are up to the task of contending with the new Mercedes W10.
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Rosberg told the Daily Mail: “I have very high hopes it is going to be incredibly exciting, last year we saw different winners.
“We saw Red Bull win, Ferrari win, I really believe there is a big possibility that continues into this season.
“If they step it up then that would be so awesome if the three teams went head-to-head. That would give us a spectacular Formula 1 season and that is all I wish for.
“This could be the year of the handover but it depends on the car, the challenge Verstappen, Leclerc, I wouldn’t count Valtteri Bottas out either, Sebastian Vettel will be in there.
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“There are many drivers who if they have the right car they could be world champions and the handover could certainly happen from one generation to the next.”
Hamilton’s only real glitch of pre-season testing came on Thursday when he was left stranded by the side of the track after an oil pressure anomaly caused his engine to shut down.
He’ll be hoping Toto Wolff’s team of engineers can hammer out that fault before they jet off to Melbourne for the season-opening race in two weeks’ time.
Hamilton has twice come out on top at the Australian Grand Prix and last year finished second behind team-mate Bottas as Mercedes made a sensational start to the F1 season.