Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes farewell is one of the main stories of the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP weekend, and former teammate Nico Rosberg has been at the forefront of describing how iconic of a driver he is. Hamilton spent 12 years with Mercedes’ F1 team, out of which Rosberg was his teammate for the first four. So, the German knows his talent and skill quite well.
Per Rosberg, F1 hasn’t seen a natural talent as good as Hamilton. “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!” the 2016 world champion said in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
“And I was a good I was a decent driver as well, you know? So many occasions where it’s like—this is insane, so unbelievable talent, great,” an emotional Rosberg added.
Nico on Lewis: “He certainly has maybe the greatest natural talent the sport has ever seen. It’s just unbelievable! 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! pic.twitter.com/mn5Acytcwq
— Sir Lewis Updates (@LH44updates) December 8, 2024
Rosberg and Hamilton grew up together in karting and were very close. When they got to F1, they were the best of buddies, but competition during their time at Mercedes turned their friendship into a bitter rivalry.
However, with Hamilton’s Mercedes era coming to a close, Rosberg can’t help but look back on the good times and praise the seven-time world champion. Further talking about his title wins, Rosberg said, “He has managed to do that as well through all the difficulties.”
“There’s been ups & downs, but that’s also huge respect for that because it’s not easy with his background & everything.”
Being the first-ever black driver in F1 (and the only one to date) was a historic feat. However, it had its own challenges, especially in the early stages of his career, when discrimination in the paddock was not uncommon. Nevertheless, Hamilton didn’t let that affect him or derail his career.
Hamilton is Rosberg’s GOAT
Rosberg doesn’t take personal feelings or his past battles with Hamilton as an influence to not choose him as the GOAT of F1. In fact, several times over the last few years, Rosberg has declared Hamilton the GOAT.
The German driver places Hamilton above Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna, and Max Verstappen (in that order). Rosberg also continues to advocate for Hamilton — even though they aren’t as friendly now.
When Mercedes launched its season-ending weekend in Abu Dhabi with the phrase ‘every dream needs a team’, the 39-year-old criticized the Brackley-based outfit and urged them to make the weekend about their outgoing legend Hamilton.
