Hamilton’s new F1 deal brings “stability” and “calmness”, less “stress” on Wolff

On Thursday ahead of last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes announced contract extensions for both Hamilton and George Russell, keeping them at the team until the end of 2025.

It brought to an end a raft of speculation about Hamilton’s future - and how long he would remain in F1.

Rosberg - who spent four seasons as Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes - thinks it’s only good news for the team - and Toto Wolff - moving forward

“Stability, calmness,” Rosberg said on the Sky F1 podcast. “It leads to uncertainty, even if the leadership, if Lewis hasn’t signed yet. It puts stress because what if Lewis prefers to go surfing at the beach? 

“Big problem. It puts stress on someone like Toto, who won’t show it because he’s an incredibly good negotiator and incredibly cold. But it puts stress.”

While Mercedes sit second in the constructors’ championship, they are no closer to challenging Red Bull than they were last season.

Rosberg has suggested Mercedes look at Red Bull’s RB19 and take inspiration from it to improve their own performance.

“Analyse the Red Bull car,” he added. “Christian Horner was telling me that he thinks next year will be closer because everyone will copy their car. That was his thought after Monza.

“All teams need to do that, understand what Red Bull is doing and go down that route, as much as possible. 

“That’s what McLaren did, to some extent, and it worked wonders straight away. All teams will do that. Also, understand what McLaren did to make such a jump, they’ve done an exceptional job.”