Nico Rosberg: Sergio Perez made it 'too easy' for Max Verstappen

Verstappen cruised to a third consecutive world title by winning 14 out of 17 races, while Perez could only manage two wins in the same car.

Rosberg, who knows what it feels like to be in the shadow of a team-mate after partnering Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, sympathises with the pressure Perez is under.

However, he still reckons that the Mexican driver should be much closer to Verstappen's pace, to at least give F1 fans more competitive races.

"I feel for him. It's such a horrible position to be in," Rosberg told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast. 

"The pressure of the world on his shoulders. The social media world is criticising him so much, because also all F1 fans are relying on him as well to make it so exciting and in a way, he let F1 fans down because he made it too easy for Verstappen.

"I was in that situation with Hamilton. I was really carrying the expectation of everybody on my shoulders to keep it exciting and not let [the racing] become boring, with Hamilton being too dominant.

"It's really a tough situation for him, so I can really relate. He's having such a difficult time. I mean Qatar was a horrible weekend again for him, like so bad, with the best car.

"Wow, I don't know, he really needs to find a way there and very quickly because how he's driving now, I mean Red Bull really need to consider even for next year."

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