Rosberg goes from meek to menace

Lewis Hamilton scanned his memory to track down the moment when everything changed and the driver he had dominated turned into Formula One’s Rambo.

Hamilton scrolled back to the Brazilian Grand Prix last November where he sat down with Paddy Lowe, the Mercedes technical director, Ron Meadows, the team manager, and Nico Rosberg, the team-mate he had pulverised for almost a season to win his second straight world championship.

Rosberg, the meek and seemingly compliant team-mate, suddenly wanted to know how far he could go. ‘‘He kept questioning scenarios on the track,’’ Hamilton said. ‘‘And for clarification what moves are allowed and what are not. From Brazil onwards, he changed his approach.

‘‘I remember, I tried going round the outside and he blocked me. I thought, ‘Good on you, I would have done exactly the same’. From there, he is definitely working harder for position. That’s how it should be.’’

From meek and mild to F1 hardman seems an unlikely transformation in Rosberg, the family man with the apartment in Monaco, who will be surrounded by friends and family as he looks to establish a record as just the second man to win the Monaco Grand Prix four successive times.

Only Ayrton Senna has achieved that feat and he has been elevated to motor racing’s pantheon of the gods. He was also a three-times world champion, while Rosberg has lived in Hamilton’s shadow since the day they were paired at Mercedes at the start of 2013. The feeling grows that this must be his year if he is to emulate his father, Keke, as a world champion.

Perhaps it is that ambition that has triggered the rush of aggression that has helped him win seven of the past eight grands prix. Perhaps in Brazil last year there was the realisation that it was now or never as his team-mate celebrated in a manner that proved a distraction from the day job. It is clear that since then Hamilton has been unable to pull together all the strands of his considerable talent, allowing Rosberg to chalk up a 43-point lead over him in this world championship.