“Better than Lewis Hamilton at wheel to wheel racing”: Former World Champion Nico Rosberg heaps praise on Max Verstappen after a stellar 2021 Campaign

Nico Rosberg picks Max Verstappen ahead of former rival Lewis Hamilton as the best driver of the 2021 season. 

Rosberg looks back on 2021 as the ‘year of Max Verstappen’. The 36-year-old praised Verstappen for his performances in a YouTube video posted on his channel. He spoke about how the Dutchman seems to perform better when under pressure.

The 2016 World Champion admitted that Hamilton is the best ‘wheel to wheel’ racer on earth, but that Verstappen matched the Brit’s skill level last season.

Also read: FIA President contacted Lewis Hamilton but is yet to receive any response

“Verstappen was just phenomenal.” said Rosberg. “The level in qualifying most of the time, the consistency throughout the whole year, the level he took against Lewis, who is probably the greatest of all time, in the Mercedes and in that dominant form. It was just off the charts.”

“Also the level in wheel to wheel racing. Lewis is the best in wheel to wheel racing but Verstappen, you probably have to say he was even better.” he added.

“That’s just crazy. The level also during the most pressured moments. Verstappen almost gets better when the pressure is high. I got like three-tenths slower when the pressure was high, he gets like two-tenths faster, it’s crazy.”

Will Rosberg praising Max Verstappen cause further strain in his relationship with Lewis Hamilton?

Rosberg and Hamilton endured a fierce rivalry during their time together as teammates at Mercedes. They were ‘best friends’ during their junior career days, but their relationship turned sour when they both began to fight for the World Title.

They clashed on track multiple times, and Hamilton, in a later interview, admitted that their friendship was ‘beyond repair’.

Ever since he retired from F1, Rosberg has frequently called Hamilton the ‘greatest of all time’. He even made it clear that he would like for them to be friends again.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg pre-race Abu Dhabi 2016
The thing that always gets me about this video is that after everything that happened lewis was all smily talking about their childhood and nico just wanted to d!e cuz he knew it was the last time they would ever talk pic.twitter.com/1wGLfYGgpQ

— ash | george’s pr manager (@lewisdelrey) January 2, 2022

“It was important for me to tell him I was to retire personally as well. Because of the battle that we’ve had and everything.” said the German.

“First of all, I just wrote him a message before the actual announcement and then afterwards we got together and had a chat about it and went through a few things.

“I’m open to finding our way and even having a good relationship again in the future. Why not?” Rosberg admitted.

Also read: Red Bull chief feels Max Verstappen became a better driver because of his father Jos’ lack of success in F1