Does Nico Rosberg have the stomach for the fight in 2015?

There was relief in many quarters when Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari won Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, not least because so far this season there has not been much evidence that the second Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg, is up for challenging his team mate Lewis Hamilton.

So why has Rosberg not matched Hamilton's standards in the opening rounds and does he have the stomach for the fight this year?

After qualifying behind Hamilton in Australia and following him home in the race without offering an attack, many were concerned to hear Rosberg saying that "Lewis drove like a world champion, because that's what he is."

On the one hand this is an understandable and time-honoured tactic; you talk up the other guy and it makes you seem stronger by association.

To some observers, it shows the possible early signs of defeatism.

He was unlucky in the race in Sepang, losing time and track positions when being forced to queue in the pits behind Hamilton.

But we had two incidents in qualifying, which set alarm bells ringing. In the wet Q3 session, Hamilton set a scintillating pace on the first lap, over a second clear of his rivals, a lap which was good enough for pole even though others improved at the end of Q3, in less wet conditions.

When he went for a second lap, he came upon Rosberg in a fast right-hander and appeared to have the entry to the corner compromised by having to take a shallow line, as he he passed his team mate who was on the left. Asked afterwards about it in the press conference, Hamilton didn't acknowledge it, even though it led to him aborting his final lap. But he did say in one TV interview for NBC Sports (USA) soon afterwards, "I know why I didn't get a second lap, but I'm not saying.."

Psychologically this was an interesting moment; Vettel ended up only 1/10th slower than Hamilton's earlier lap, so had Hamilton lost the pole due to this incident there would have been an earthquake. Because he still had the pole, he took it as a psychological triumph over Rosberg and rose above it when asked by probing media to start a polemic.

In the same session, Rosberg asked his engineer what lines "the guy who is first" was taking in the tricky conditions. Leaving aside the curious wording, this falls into the category of "driver coaching" via radio so he did not get a reply.

"Because it was an unusual condition out there which we haven’t practised, I was just interested to hear what the guy who was first did in terms of lines and I didn’t know it was Lewis, so I just asked what lines was he doing," said Rosberg afterwards. "Was he doing normal dry lines or more towards wet, but that information is banned, so I got a reply 'Can’t tell you.' "

This made Rosberg look powerless, flailing around in poor track conditions, looking for answers and looking for help, while his team mate had smashed it with his first lap.

Taken together the two incidents were reminiscent of scenes from Tour de France cycling, where one adversary looks over his shoulder on a steep mountain climb and then accelerates away, his rival knowing he does not have the energy or breath to go with him. This site predicted that Hamilton would move up a level this season after clinching his second world title, as many champions before have done.

Having discussed this with several great champions, the first world title brings pure joy, relief, a feeling of having achieved a goal, but then immediately a hunger to do it again. The second brings a feeling of assurance, confirmation of status and ability. Really good drivers tend to find they can relax a bit after that second title, while staying focussed and can thus be more efficient, more effective, more measured. Their self belief has been justified.

Hamilton is in that phase of his career now and, combined with his talent, which has always been class-leading, he is a formidable competitor. Rosberg did brilliantly last year to take him on and he had him on the ropes from May to September.

This year he needs another trick and he needs it soon. Rosberg is his father's son, and he has more about him than he has shown so far and in China we expect to see the response.

There is quite a bit going on in his life outside of racing, his wife is pregnant with their first child and although one should hesitate to believe German tabloids, the reports are that she has a severe form of morning sickness. For a family man who is all about stability, that's an unsettling moment.

He also has to come to terms with the defeat of 2014 and the painful truth that he wasn't able to win the world title in a dominant car despite having more pole positions than his team mate. He has to raise his game substantially this year, but without the triggers that Hamilton has benefitted from. That's a big ask.

Rosberg surprised us all last year. Shanghai, where he took his first pole and win, is the right place for him to surprise us again and to add another twist to this championship by beating Hamilton fair and square.