Rosberg warns Hamilton will come back 'so damn strong'

Nico Rosberg has warned Lewis Hamilton's rivals that the world champion will not struggle for much longer in the 2018 Formula season, backing his former Mercedes team-mate to come back "so damn strong" after failing to win any of the opening three races of the season.

Hamilton's results have steadily got worse this year, starting with a second place at an Australian Grand Prix which he dominated and running to last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, which the Brit finished fourth.

Fallow periods have come to characterise Hamilton in recent years, although only Rosberg has been able to take advantage enough to win a title from him in the hybrid era.

"When it doesn't go perfectly, he starts to lose that edge a little bit and a touch of motivation or whatever and then just struggles for a while," Rosberg said of Hamilton on his Youtube channel.

"And those are the races you have to maximise... because Lewis always comes back, and when he comes back he comes back so damn strong that he's almost unbeatable. And so let's see when that happens."

After strategy woes in Australia were compounded by a gearbox penalty in Bahrain, Hamilton was arguably let down by his team yet again in Shanghai as they opted against replicating the soft-tyre strategy under the safety car which allowed Danel Ricciardo to race to victory from sixth.

"I just didn't have the pace. I have to figure out what it is," said Hamilton after the race.

"I can't have disaster weekends like this. I was in no-man's land, I had no pace. I was trying to hold on for whatever I had."

For Rosberg's full take on the Chinese Grand Prix, check out the video below.