Former Mercedes boss Ross Brawn wants to see Nico Rosberg win his first championship this season.
Brawn managed Rosberg after his team was purchased by Mercedes in 2010, staying until the end of 2013 season. That final season saw Rosberg joined by Lewis Hamilton, who beat the German to titles after Brawn had departed in 2014 and 2015.
In an interview with the Telegraph Brawn thinks Rosberg, who he calls a "tough little bugger", has done remarkably well to fight back from two years of being beaten by one of the sport's best drivers.
"He's very resilient," Brawn said. "He slips behind a bit, then he has a good talking to himself and comes back. A lot of drivers, having been punished by Lewis for a couple of years, would have gone away. In many ways I would like him to win the world championship because he's done a fabulous job of getting beaten and coming back."
Rosberg leads the championship by 26 points with three races left. Though Brawn thinks Hamilton is the better driver on his day he believes Rosberg's consistency and resilience have been key to his title challenge this year.
"Nico will put in a more consistent performance over the year, but would never quite reach the highs that Lewis could. But then Lewis dips down a bit. He's more emotional in his approach. The whole thing with the press was an unfortunate distraction."
While Rosberg has rarely courted controversy in his career, Hamilton was at odds with the media during the Japanese Grand Prix for what he felt was disrespectful coverage of his use of Snapchat during the Thursday press conference. Brawn thinks Hamilton's behaviour at Suzuka was a good example of how he needs more close friends and advisors with him in the paddock.
"I think Nico has a few people close to him who he can rely on. With Lewis I've not seen any signs that he has that support. You don't need those battles in the middle of a championship which is intense enough already. But sometimes people vent their spleen. That's why if there were a mentor or confidante he could vent those frustrations out on them."