Nico Rosberg risks Formula One's 'biggest loser' tag - should he leave Mercedes now?

Updated 02/08/2016 at 11:53 GMT

After a storming start to the season, Nico Rosberg has handed over the championship advantage to Lewis Hamilton. Is it time for him to leave Mercedes?

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team's British driver Lewis Hamilton (L) and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team's German driver Nico Rosberg walk before the start of the of the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit on November 29, 2015

Image credit: AFP

You have to feel a little sorry for Nico Rosberg, really.

Two months ago he had a 43-point advantage in the drivers' championship, leaving his rival and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton far behind.

Now he heads into the summer break 19 points behind the Brit, on the brink of going down in infamy as Formula One's biggest loser.

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And team boss Toto Wolff has done nothing to boost Rosberg's confidence by admitting that there's nothing he can do to catch the defending champion on scintillating form.

"That guy [Hamilton] is very talented, has speed and, on his day, I think he is unbeatable," he admitted.

It certainly seems that way - and Rosberg and Hamilton's apparent dislike of one another has added extra needle to the duel between the two.

Over the past two years, the pair keep clashing - on and off the track.

There was the Belgian Grand Prix in 2014, where Hamilton accused Rosberg of hitting him on purpose.

There was the Chinese Grand Prix the year after, which was the point at which Mercedes decided to capitalise on the feud to encourage them to race even faster.

When they're on the podium together - which happens more often than not - they might shake hands in a cursory fashion, but the contrast between the bare minimum display of politeness and their genuine congratulations and camaraderie with other drivers is striking - and embarrassing.

Lewis Hamilton ignores Nico Rosberg who has his arm round Daniel Ricciardo in Hungary

Image credit: Reuters

Nobody says team-mates have to like each other, but the awkwardness at this point is impossible.

The massed ranks of fans of both drivers have spent most of the season accusing Mercedes of sabotaging their man, to such an extent that the team actually had to come out and deny any shenanigans.

And when the team's head of motorsport effectively says one of his drivers has not got a chance of taking the title, you have to wonder whether Rosberg's job is tenable.

Perhaps it's finally time for him to admit that he's never going to win the drivers' championship.

He is always going to be second behind Hamilton at Mercedes, no matter how much he tries to assert himself - and he's always going to be in the shadow of his father Keke, world champion in 1982.

Hamilton is going to remain top dog at Mercedes, and Rosberg's desperate attempts to assert himself are always going to end in disappointment.

With Pascal Wehrlein gaining experience with Manor at the back of the grid, it is surely only a matter of time before he steps up into the second of the Silver Arrows. The driver fondly called "our little prince" by Wolff tested for Mercedes at the start of the season and has a long relationship with the team - and a 21-year-old ready to make his name is surely a better option to play a supporting role to Mercedes' superstar now.

As for Rosberg - well, he was rumoured to be in talks with Ferrari a few months ago. Perhaps that's the best place for him - a decent team in the chasing pack rather than being expected to lead from the front.

Meanwhile, Hamilton will be sunning himself on a beach somewhere, revelling in the knowledge that he has done the best he can to make his team-mate look like a second-rate also-ran.