Hamilton hits back at Rosberg 'inconsistency' jibe

Lewis Hamilton brushed off Nico Rosberg's suggestion that he is an inconsistent driver, by claiming his former Mercedes team-mate was only after "headlines". Rosberg told Sky Sports earlier this week: "He has these periods when he is just not on it."

Rosberg beat Hamilton to the 2016 drivers' title, the Briton made to pay for a couple of off-days and an engine blow-out in Malaysia.

But Hamilton has won every other individual honour in a hybrid era that Mercedes have dominated and enters 2018 as the reigning champion after a tense battle with Sebastian Vettel last year.

Vettel had looked in the drivers' seat until a first-lap collision in Singapore was followed by struggles in Japan and Malaysia, which threw momentum back to Hamilton.

However, Hamilton believes he proved his consistency across a 2017 season which saw him secure 11 pole positions and nine victories to lead Vettel by 46 points come the end of the year.

"I think I've proved that that's not the case last year," Hamilton told a pre-race press conference when Rosberg's quote was put to him.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: What's your biggest weakness, @LewisHamilton? ????????????#AusGP #F1isBack pic.twitter.com/p2ev2K36aB — Formula 1 (@F1) March 22, 2018

"I think there's a lot of people who need to get headlines and that's one way of [doing] it.

"The goal this year is to be even more consistent than last year. I think consistency is the main reason I won the world championship last year."

The question was also put to Vettel, sat next to Hamilton at the time, and the Ferrari man offered a diplomatic response.

"Well, there aren't many," a somewhat sheepish Vettel said.

"I think he's been doing a good job for many years now. It's always a bit of a weird question to answer when the person is sitting right next to you!

"But there's not many. I'm sure we all have our weaknesses.

"Maybe some is part of our characters, some is part of our driving, but to be honest I don't really think about those too much. I think about mine quite a lot and try to get better in what I consider I need to improve. Concerning other people, it's not in my hands so I try to finish my plate."