Nico Rosberg says he is determined to keep putting pressure on Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton ahead of this weekend’s Belgian GP.

The German looked ready to finally win his first World Championship after a string of reliability issues for Hamilton helped him win the opening four races, but the tables have since turned.

Six wins in the last seven meetings have seen Hamilton open up a 19-point lead at the top of the standings ahead of the resumption of the season this weekend at Spa.

With nine races left, every point will count if Rosberg is to close the gap and he is the 1.67 favourite to win in Belgium, with Hamilton second in the betting at 3.60.

The 31-year-old admits he still has plenty to prove, having fallen short behind his colleague in the last two seasons, but is confident he can put as much pressure on as possible between now and the final date on the calendar in Abu Dhabi.

Rosberg said: “The fact is I can beat him when I have a good weekend, but the fact is also that he’s beaten me the last two years over a championship year, and he is now ahead of me at the moment.

That means up to now he has done a better job. “But there is still a long way to go and it’s very close, we have done half the season and we are very close on points, so it will keep being a good battle all the way to the end.”

He added: “I just want to beat him in as many races as possible and then we will see where we are.”