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Talk of Mercedes F1 'changes' hurting Hamilton odd, says Rosberg

Nico Rosberg says he is baffled by Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton's suggestion that car changes since the Singapore Grand Prix have swung the intra-team power balance his way

Rosberg has taken five straight pole positions in the races that followed Singapore, and won the last two grands prix in Mexico and Brazil.

Singapore was the scene of Mercedes' worst F1 race of 2015, and it put its lacklustre performance down to failing to get the super-soft tyres working around Marina Bay.

After his Brazil defeat, Hamilton intimated that adjustments made to the Mercedes since Singapore could have worked against him.

GP ANALYSIS: How Rosberg put Hamilton on the back foot in Brazil

But Rosberg insisted nothing significant had changed.

"I'm not really sure what he's referring to," he said.

"There's no change in the feel of the car or anything.

"For me, it was always very close before and now it's just swung the other way.

"It's very close but I'm ahead now and I've been quicker lately. That's it.

"Last year I was quicker in qualifying. At the beginning of this year I was not, and now I am again.

"It's to-ing and fro-ing a little bit and at the moment I'm the one that's got the upper hand."

IAN PARKES: Has Rosberg found his inner devil?

Asked if there was anything he wanted Mercedes to change for its 2016 car that could help him, Rosberg said he had certain requests but doubted that would be to Hamilton's detriment.

"There are always small bits and pieces where I'm trying to get them to do stuff which I feel could be beneficial," he said.

"But most of the time they're also helpful for the other driver. It's seldom that something just helps me and not Lewis."

He added that he was still waiting for Mercedes to make changes to the braking system that he had requested since early 2014.

"There are things I'm trying to push for, but some things take so long," he said.

"Like brakes for example, which has been since the beginning of last year but it's still ongoing.

"It's not straightforward."

Rosberg rated his 2015 performance as "a seven and a half, maybe seven" out of 10.

"The problem is the other guy had a higher number. But it was OK," he added.

He also played down the value of completing a late-season hat-trick of wins by triumphing again in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

"The hat-trick is not important," Rosberg insisted.

"It's important for me to win the race.

"It would be great to give the mechanics an awesome end of season party and give them something to celebrate."

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