“He Wouldn’t Talk Badly About Me”: When Nico Rosberg Refused to Believe a Controversial Lewis Hamilton Headline

Back in 2014, Martin Brundle asked Nico Rosberg about comments his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton had made about him. Hamilton was quoted as saying he had more ‘hunger’ compared to the German owing to the Briton’s less privileged background.

While Rosberg was the son of F1 world champion, Keke Rosberg, Hamilton felt his humble beginnings meant that he had more desire to pull himself up the ranks. Responding to Brundle’s question, the #6 driver explained that Hamilton would never say anything about him with malice in public.

“I know that he would not talk badly in that way about me. So, I don’t go into that stuff because i know that it’s not real,” said the 2016 world champion as quoted on X (formerly Twitter).

The former Mercedes driver also clarified that the duo had spoken after Hamilton‘s comments. According to the German, the #44 driver told him that the comments were not directed towards him rather “it was turned around in the media” and he was only talking about himself.

These comments came around the Canadian GP that year. It was the first year of the turbo-hybrid era and Mercedes’ dominance. Up until this point, Rosberg had won only twice as against Hamilton’s run of four consecutive wins.

In the years to come, they would develop an intense rivalry, culminating in Rosberg‘s 2016 title win and subsequent retirement.

How is Rosberg and Hamilton’s relationship now?

At the height of their rivalry, Silver Arrows’ team principal, Toto Wolff described it as, “The debriefing room is full of negativity because the two drivers are hostile with each other.” However, since Rosberg’s retirement, it seems that the duo have made amends.

Rosberg, who now works as an analyst for Sky Sports F1, is often seen supporting the British racing driver. Speaking on Hamilton’s recent ‘qualifying weaknesses’, he was quoted as saying, “But the end of the day, it’s Lewis Hamilton, isn’t it? And sometimes he could just pull it out of his back pocket. You’ve seen that, haven’t you on a number of occasions.”

After the 2024 Singapore GP, he even defended the seven-time world champion after Mercedes botched his strategy — starting on the soft compound tires.