“The world champion pays” – Lewis Hamilton once blamed Nico Rosberg for splitting F1 drivers dinner 18 ways

The blame game has been a common occurrence between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg during their time together as teammates and rivals.

And in a silly turn of events, Hamilton blamed Rosberg for suggesting an 18-way bill-split after the entire F1 grid, except 4 drivers, had dinner in Shanghai in 2016.

On Wednesday night ahead of the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix, all the F1 drivers, except Kimi Raikkonen, Jolyon Palmer, Kevin Magnussen and Rio Haryanto, went out for dinner in Shanghai.

Hamilton had picked the restaurant – an Italian place called ‘The Kitchen’ – and had laid down a deposit for the meal. However, the bill for the dinner was split among the 18 drivers present even after Hamilton had offered to pay.

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Lewis Hamilton said splitting the bill was ridiculous

After the dinner, the 3-time world champion at the time revealed that his offer to pay the entire bill was shot down by his teammate Rosberg.

He described splitting the bill as a “little bit silly and ridiculous” and found 18 drivers sharing a bill insane.

“It probably wasn’t really that expensive. I did say: Why don’t I get it now, or two of us get it now, and then the next time someone else gets it? And they are like: No, no, no. I want to pay individually,” Hamilton further explained.

At the end of the day, even though F1 drivers are the best-paid sportsmen in the world, they all got receipts. There were 18 bills and 18 credit cards on the table. When asked who made that suggestion, the Briton said, “I’m pretty sure it was Nico.”

“Usually the world champion pays” – Nico Rosberg

Afterwards, when Hamilton’s side of the story was presented to Rosberg, he found it interesting and reiterated his own version of the night.

“From what I can remember, the hidden agreement is usually that the world champion pays, but that might just be my opinion,” Rosberg said.

As the season progressed, the rivalry that had prevailed since the 2013 season saw an end. Rosberg came out as the top man after beating the dominant Hamilton to the championship and claiming his first and last title.

The German driver chose retirement after fighting intense battles with his teammate. He later revealed that it takes a lot of mental strength to go up against Hamilton which was one of the reasons that influenced his retirement decision.

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