Scheckter issues Rosberg warning

jodyscheckter

Scheckter knows from first-hand experience just how difficult it is to clinch the drivers' championship, the South African having won the 1979 title when at Ferrari.

So far the 2014 season has been dominated by the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, with the former leading his team-mate by 29 points heading into Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Rosberg, winner at Silverstone 12 months ago, will start on pole position while Hamilton was made to pay for deciding not to complete his final lap in qualifying on Saturday and dropped to sixth, leaving the Briton with it all to do to catch Rosberg.

And Scheckter, who won the championship from his then team-mate Gilles Villeneuve 35 years ago, explained the different mindsets that come with leading the standings and being in the chasing pack.

"It's very difficult when you're leading a championship because then you're judging between being conservative - 'if I don't make a mistake then I can win the championship' - and that can actually mean more mistakes," said Scheckter when speaking exclusively to Perform.

"If you're not aggressive in a positive way at the start you can get bunched up into a whole load of things so keeping that balance between aggression and not making a mistake is difficult.

"The guy behind, he's just got to go all out, that's all he has to do so sometimes people can get into trouble if they're ahead and they think if I just don't make any mistakes and win one or two or beat him once or twice I can win the championship."

Scheckter also eulogised about the Formula One season so far, which has seen Mercedes comfortably lead the way, while intriguing inter-team rivalries have developed between Rosberg and Hamilton, as well as Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

"In a way i think it's been a fantastic season," he added.

"You've got the races within teams and I suppose that's between the two Mercedes drivers, that's very exciting.

"Then you've got Red Bull, it's exciting between the two of them, which has been a big surprise.

"With such big changes in the regulations it's accepted that the Mercedes engine is superior to the Renault engine and they [Red Bull] have been caught with those factors."

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