Nico Rosberg insists he is not No. 2 at Mercedes

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg insists he is not the No. 2 driver at the Formula One team despite being ordered not to overtake teammate Lewis Hamilton at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Rosberg was asked on Thursday whether he was behind Hamilton in the pecking order and said: "Very confident. No No. 1, no No. 2."

While Rosberg was frustrated at not being able to overtake Hamilton, he never considered defying the team order, unlike what happened between the Red Bull drivers.

The German said problems arose because they had not discussed team orders before the race, adding "as long as one is prepared for it and it's discussed well and understood, that's the important thing, and that's the main mistake we did as a team."