Rosberg suggests Hamilton should blame himself before his car for 13th-place finish

Lewis Hamilton should blame himself before his Mercedes car for his 13th place finish in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the weekend, claims old team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Rosberg believes the apology Mercedes chief Toto Wolff gave Hamilton for the car needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, adding that team-mate George Russell’s fourth-place finish in the race is proof. 

Wolff was recorded saying to Hamilton, who was lapped by rival and winner Max Versappen late on in the race: ‘Sorry for what you have needed to drive today. I know this is undriveable and not what we deserve to score as a result.

Hamilton (pictured) finished 13th and endured a disappointing weekend, but Russell was 4th

‘We’ll move from there, but this was a terrible race. We will come out of this.’

But Rosberg was unconvinced, telling Sky Sports F1: ‘Toto was playing the mental game, which is very smart on his behalf.

‘Mercedes are taking the blame themselves, really trying to support Lewis mentally, lifting him up and saying, “hey, Lewis, it’s not your doing, it’s really on us”. That’s very smart because it’s not quite the truth.

‘Let’s not forget Russell is in P4 with that same car, so Lewis definitely had a big role to play in that poor result this weekend.

‘Russell still managed to get P4 out of it with a brilliant weekend, so there was more in that car.’ 

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff apologised to Hamilton for the car at the end of the race

But Nico Rosberg thinks Hamilton should look closer to home for reasons behind his struggles

Hamilton is seventh in the driver standings on 28 points, with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari leading the way with a tally of 86.

Russell, meanwhile, is fourth on 49 points.

Formula One heads to the United States next for Miami Grand Prix on May 8.