Are Rosberg’s days with Mercedes numbered?

Could Nico Rosberg be heading into his final season with Mercedes?

The 2016 Formula One World Championship is set to be the final year of the current sporting and technical regulations.

That means that the status-quo is likely to continue, with a two-way battle for the Formula One World Championship between Rosberg and his now three-time Formula One World Champion partner Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari expected to close the gap to Mercedes, but it is the Silver Arrows side that are the favourites to repeat their dominance from 2014 and 2015.

Could this turn out to be Rosberg’s best and last chance at winning the F1 crown?

Recently Mercedes have revealed that they are willing to drop either Hamilton or Rosberg from the team, if tensions between the two worsen.

Many in the paddock believed that the comments were mainly aimed towards Hamilton, as the Brit frequently voiced his frustration at the team towards the end of the season as they wouldn’t allow him to gamble on strategy to race Rosberg.

But with Nico Rosberg’s current contract ending at the end of the 2016 Formula One World Championship season and Hamilton’s deal running until the end of 2018, the easiest way to change things would be to drop the German.

‘The line-up is a great line-up.

‘Both of them are a major part of the team and responsible for getting the team to where we are today. Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff told Autosport Magazine.

Rosberg has scored 14 wins and 22 pole positions during his 5 years with the German manufacturer, but his record has been far eclipsed by Hamilton, who has scored 22 wins and 23 pole positions in just 3 years, en route to winning two Formula One World Championships.

It’s clear who the star driver is and if they cannot get along and the one with the worse record has a shorter contract, it doesn’t take much to think that Rosberg’s days could be numbered.

‘It’s early days to discuss that [Rosberg’s contract]. I want to see how the season pans out.

‘There are areas we want to develop altogether as a team, and let’s see how that goes.’