AUGUST 3, 2016

Lauda to help Rosberg bounce back

Championship rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have got off to very different starts to their F1 summer break.

A happy and relaxed world championship leader Hamilton headed to Barbados, where he took part in a raucous and scantily-clad street parade.

But Bild newspaper reports that German Rosberg, who suffered four consecutive race defeats to Hamilton in July and lost his long-held points lead, headed to Ibiza.

Although he lives in Monaco, Rosberg has a home in Ibiza where his wife Vivian owns an ice cream parlour, and Bild says they simply plan to relax with their daughter.

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda recently travelled to Ibiza to catch up with Rosberg, and it seems another visit may now be on the cards.

"We will talk with him and discuss the problem," said the F1 legend, referring to a lean run for Rosberg that culminated in an easy defeat at the hands of Hamilton at Hockenheim.

"He must again believe in himself, and then he will be a problem for Lewis once again," Lauda told the Swiss newspaper Blick.

But Rosberg left for his summer break insisting that he can bounce back straight away.

"Lewis has not only showed he is strong lately - he was always strong," he said.

"I'm disappointed with Hockenheim, as I did a great qualifying and on Friday I had good pace on the long runs. It's just a shame everything went wrong in the race.

"But I have enough examples from the past that show I always get stronger after a setback -- again and again. So there is no problem," Rosberg added.

(GMM)