2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg shared one of F1’s most heated rivalries of all time with Lewis Hamilton during their time together at Mercedes. Not only did they have nervy moments on the track, but things often got ugly away from it. One such moment took place at the 2015 United States GP and Rosberg wasn’t happy to see YouTube recommend him this particular trip down memory lane.
Rosberg had just lost the world championship to Hamilton in Austin that day. In the cool-down room, the latter threw the P2 cap at the German driver, which he then threw back to Hamilton. Upon coming across it on YouTube, the former Mercedes driver said,
“Why does the YouTube algorithm suggest me this video again?”
i just wanted to watch the clip because i was going to post something about it and pic.twitter.com/outVszufHd
— moreau (@rbullvettel) May 18, 2024
For Rosberg, United States 2015 was a bitter pill to swallow. He was fighting for the World Championship for the second year in a row but to no avail. The fact that his former best friend turned bitter nemesis Lewis Hamilton got the better of him on both occasions, added insult to injury.
Rosberg’s actions were not deemed sportsmanlike. But Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff defended him. As quoted by ESPN, the Austrian said, “If he is upset we have to have respect for that“.
The rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg heated up even more the next year, which turned out to be Rosberg’s last in F1. Rosberg threw everything he had at Hamilton in 2016. And thankfully for him, he was able to put the rivalry to rest by finally toppling the Stevenage-born driver to become an F1 World Champion.
Nico Rosberg reveals he has mended his relationship with Lewis Hamilton
Since Rosberg’s retirement, his relationship with Hamilton has improved. Both have made efforts to mend their once inseparable friendship. Earlier this year, Rosberg revealed,
“Lewis and I have repaired our friendship. We see each other from time to time. Every Christmas my daughters receive a huge box full of gifts from him“.
nico talking about lewis and when they were teammates together as kids.. likely place for him to be in pic.twitter.com/yrV0F3oNov
— roxane (@sebsclaren) April 24, 2024
In another interview, the German explained how his respect for the Briton grew after he won his first and only championship in 2016. The 38-year-old stated that it comes as no surprise to him now that he found it extremely difficult to beat Hamilton, who he believes has now established himself as the greatest F1 driver of all time.
