F1: Rosberg battling braking difficulties

Nico Rosberg has revealed to suffering "a long-term issue" with the brakes of his Mercedes he is trying not to let affect his bid for this season's Formula 1 title.

Rosberg claims the problem stretches back to last season, and despite various attempts to address the matter, he is continuing to encounter difficulties. The 30-year-old German, who heads into Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix 17 points adrift of teammate Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings, says his brake concerns are all to do with "personal feel."

As to whether it can be corrected, Rosberg said: "Difficult, because it's taken so long and we've not really had much progress at all.

"It's such a complex matter. It takes six months to bake a new pair of discs, and if they're the right ones, then six months again to bake a whole set of them. That's why it's taken ages and why there is not much hope at the moment for a quick improvement."

Rosberg has confirmed to trying "a lot" of different brake materials, but cannot say whether it is costing him time.

"I don't like it. Is it losing me time? It depends," he said. "It's something I don't like, and I would prefer if it were different.

"It's such a long time now it's been in place that I've accepted I have to get on with it, drive around it, learn to drive with it, and that's what I've done."

Hamilton, who suffered his own brake problems for a period of time following his arrival at Mercedes, feels Rosberg may be pulling the wool over people's eyes.

"He said he felt perfectly fine on the brakes in Austria, just letting you know," said Hamilton. "And he knows you are going to ask me [about the brakes] so we don't have any problems with the brakes.

"Naturally, you always want to try and improve the brakes, particularly in this hot climate as they begin to fade once they get over temperature. In the last race [British GP] you probably wouldn't get too much fading because you don't have to use them too much. Whereas here you really use them a lot because the temperature is so high, the initial bite drops off because they are operating above the window and then they fade so it affects your braking zones. But I enjoy that, it's a challenge."

Originally on Autosport.com