“The sport needs to make progress”– Nico Rosberg demands tighter wheel-to-wheel battle rules in F1

Tanish Chachra | 25/12/2021
"The sport needs to make progress"– Nico Rosberg demands tighter wheel-to-wheel battle rules in F1

With the FIA having a new president, Nico Rosberg thinks it’s the appropriate time for the governing body to bring clarity in rules.

In 2021, Formula 1 has seen several wheel-to-wheel battles on the track. The two title protagonists were also having it every passing week, and it led to many controversial moments.

Now, with the change in leadership in FIA, Nico Rosberg has urged the organization to frame tighter rules around wheel-to-wheel battles ahead of the new season.

“Big respect to Jean [Todt, ex-FIA president] for his career, of course. But now with a new person, there’s an opportunity. The sport needs to make progress,” Rosberg told Sky Sports News.

“It starts even with all the overtaking, the wheel-to-wheel action. Let’s not forget that in the [Abu Dhabi] race, Max Verstappen passed Lewis [on the opening lap] and kind of pushed him off a little bit.

“Lewis stayed flat out, cut the corner and came out in front again. Even that, all of us experts said Lewis should let Max by here, but they didn’t ask him to.

“The FIA needs to tighten all that up so that we don’t have all these discussions. “It would be better for the sport if it was much easier to understand.”

“Also in wheel-to-wheel racing; who is now right and wrong, what needs to be done. A quick decision is made, and we go on. We need to get rid of all of these discussions, that’s important.”

Also read: Max Verstappen thinks Fernando Alonso should be at top of the grid

Nico Rosberg had his own wheel-to-wheel dramas

Not long ago, Rosberg had his own wheel-to-wheel drama with none other than Hamilton. The two Mercedes drivers were intensely vying for the championship in 2016.

In the end, the German had an upper hand over his teammate, but soon, Rosberg retired, and since then Hamilton has been the undisputed champion of F1, until Verstappen denied him the title this year.

Also read: Max Verstappen takes a dig at Mercedes’ rear wing after Sergio Perez’s Christmas present

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Mercedes Nico Rosberg

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Don’t miss these