Nico Rosberg says he was intimidated by 2010 Mercedes teammate Michael Schumacher who used to play mind games with him.
Ahead of the 2010 season, Nico Rosberg was announced as one of the drivers for the newcomer Mercedes F1 team. The team acquired the services of Rosberg who left Williams.
The German automobile company was looking to secure Jenson Button as the other driver. But Button moved to McLaren and Mercedes signed outbound Nick Heidfeld.
And later the news broke out that the 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher will be returning to the sport. The 41-year-old signed a three-year contract worth $25 million.
Schumacher was an iconic driver and a hero to every F1 fan and driver. Rosberg too looked up to Michael but shared it was extremely intimidating hearing the news that he will be teaming up with him.
Rosberg remembers the moment Ross Brawn broke the news of Schumacher joining the team. He recalled, “That was not a good moment.”
Rosberg said, “I was all excited, I would be leading this Mercedes team. And then suddenly Ross calls me and he says, ‘Oh, by the way, your teammate is not going to be Jenson Button or Nick Heidfeld – it’s going to be Michael Schumacher.’”
It would have been a really difficult moment for 25-year-old Nico Rosberg. Knowing that an esteemed driver will be driving alongside you. And Rosberg felt he had no chance to beat someone like Schumi.
He adds, “I was like ‘oh my God’. I had the craziest thoughts, that I would have no chance and the whole team would go against me. And Michael would manipulate his way through, and can I keep up with him? He’s the greatest of all time – do I have a chance?”
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How Michael Schumacher bullied Nico Rosberg at Mercedes
When Nico Rosberg joined Mercedes he had claimed 2 podiums. Compared to that Michael Schumacher eclipsed his tally with 91 wins, 155 podiums and 7 World Championship titles.
Rosberg claims it was not easy to go against Schumacher. The 2016 World Champion claimed Michael would psychological games on him during the 3 seasons they spent together.
Michael’s arsenal of mental games came naturally to him. Being such an experienced and coveted driver, he used to dictate Mercedes’s race strategy including Roberg’s. Nico almost had no say until he pointed it out to the strategists.
An incident Rosberg recollects is how 41-year-old Michael would walk around the Mercedes engineering room shirtless. He had an amazing physique for his age and would flaunt it to gain a psychological advantage over others.
Rosberg recalls, “He would love to walk around topless in the engineering room. He’d show his six-pack because it was another statement of strength to impress everybody who is there.”
He adds, “His body was pretty sculptured. It just went on and on. There were infinite examples like that.”
Roberg claimed that Michael locked him in the toilet 5 minutes before the start of Monaco Gp’s qualifying. And the nervous Rosberg had nowhere to relieve himself.
Eventually, Rosberg conquered his fear of sharing a team with Schumacher. He out-qualified and finished ahead of Schumi in all 3 seasons. And gave Mercedes their first win in 50 years by winning the 2012 Chinese GP.
