Rosberg: Max showed Hamilton-esque attitude  

Max Verstappen’s performance at the Canadian Grand Prix was benefitted by channeling his anger in a similar style to Lewis Hamilton, according to Nico Rosberg. 

Following a tough start to the 2018 season - which has included a number of incidents and crashes - an under-fire and irritated Verstappen insisted he would not change his approach during the pre-race weekend drivers’ press conference.

Verstappen enjoyed a return to form in Montreal as he recorded his second podium in three races with a strong drive to third place, having topped all three practice sessions and out-paced Hamilton as the highest-placed Red Bull driver in qualifying. 

And 2016 world champion Rosberg drew parallels between the Dutchman and former Mercedes teammate Hamilton when reflecting on the race weekend on his YouTube channel.  

“Verstappen - epic weekend,” Rosberg said. “He showed a bit of Lewis Hamilton attitude to me this weekend.

“When Lewis is angry, he is at his best. He channels it into an unbelievable performance and I think Verstappen had some of that this weekend, so he gained this extra focus from the word go.

“He was first all the way through [practice], great qualifying, got the best out of the car and finished third. I think that was a really good weekend from him.”

Hamilton could only qualify fourth and finished a distant fifth in Sunday’s race after being hampered by cooling issues in his Mercedes during the early stages. The result dropped Hamilton one point behind Sebastian Vettel in the championship standings following the Ferrari driver’s dominant win. 

Rosberg believes the Briton’s “typical” drop in form was influenced by a loss of motivation during what proved to be a difficult weekend for Mercedes. 

“Lewis - he had one of those off-weekends totally,” Rosberg added. “OK he had an engine thing in the race, but even so qualifying was still off. Typical for Lewis - these phases where he loses a bit of motivation when things don't go well.”