Best friends turned into bitter rivals is the perfect way of describing Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s relationship. The highly competitive world of F1 threw their past relationship and treasured memories out of the window, and they developed one of the most heated rivalries in the sport’s history during their time as Mercedes teammates between 2013 and 2016.
However, the respect between them always remained, something Rosberg in particular pointed out multiple times over the years. At a German talk show, Rosberg revealed that both of his daughters are huge Hamilton fans.
“That’s even more like a weak point, that’s a big problem,” the 2016 World Champion quipped.
Hamilton, meanwhile, is likely aware of that fact, and keeping his personal animosity with Rosberg aside continues to be a role model and the ‘cool uncle’ of the family. How? By sending Christmas gifts to Rosberg’s daughters.
Nico Rosberg and his wife went to a German talk show on friday to talk about family and ended up talking about Lewis Hamilton
pic.twitter.com/KV8AGRQgND— Stefanie (@fastpitstop) February 2, 2025
Rosberg admitted that despite the enmity he shared with the seven-time World Champion, every year, without fail, Hamilton plays a huge role in making his daughter’s Christmas special. “Every Christmas, both children have a huge pack of gifts from him in front of the door. So, that’s a nice approach.”
The host of the talk show had an interesting question as a follow-up: Is Hamilton not allowed to come into their house? “No he has to stop at the door,” was Rosberg’s response, which most likely, was a joke.
Rosberg’s continued support for Hamilton
2016’s championship pursuit left Rosberg absolutely drained. He beat Hamilton and won the title, but knew that he could not carry the rivalry forward which is why he put an end to it by retiring from the sport.
Since then, Hamilton made no public efforts to talk Rosberg up or show any signs of wanting to reconcile. The German, on the other hand, has, on multiple occasions, tried to get into the good books of Hamilton and even hinted that he would like to be friends again.
Rosberg has repeatedly praised Hamilton since leaving F1, and even in 2024—which was one of the Briton’s most difficult campaigns ever—declared the Stevenage-born driver the GOAT. “There’s so many occasions where we have the same car, we go out, come in, you look at the data, what he’s done with that car? It’s just like that’s not even human!”
Of course, Rosberg spoke from experience. But what the German was referring to was the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP, where Hamilton started from P17 and finished P4.
As Hamilton embarks on a new journey with Ferrari this season onwards, Rosberg’s support for him will most likely continue. But whether Hamilton will ever reciprocate remains to be seen.
