Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton share garage space with the same F1 team but little empathy for each other in the race for the world championship
“We are not friends, we are colleagues,” said Lewis Hamilton about the man who he claims to have been friends with since before his Formula 1 debut in 2007.
“We’ve always been friends, we always will be friends but friends is a big word. What exactly is friends? We have a good relationship and we work well together”, said Nico Rosberg about the man who claimed he was excited to be his teammate at Mercedes F1 last year.
These were among the many to and fro’s between the only two realistic championship challengers for the 2014 F1 season that were doing the rounds in the media after one of the most tense Monaco Grand Prix weekends in a long time.
SKULLDUGGERY?
Even though it looked like a mistake, the jury’s out in the eyes of many of the F1 media (most of whom are British) whether Rosberg intentionally locked up on the run towards Mirabeau forcing him into the run off area and forcing Lewis Hamilton’s effort to beat his time was intentional.
Hamilton seemed to think so both before and after he slinked away from the podium ceremony where Rosberg was given the first place trophy instead of the 2008 world champion who had to settle for second while nursing an irritated eye in which a bit of dirt had flown in, prompting him to back off from the German in the closing stages of the race.
THE WAY THINGS STAND
Fast forward to the weekend of the Austrian Grand Prix (back for the first time since 2003) and the events of a thrilling Canadian GP following Monaco has left Rosberg 22 points in the lead and Hamilton posting photos of him and the German holding hands while riding unicycles on his Twitter handle.
Yes, that sounds weird even by Hamilton’s social media standards – alleging and then redacting on a perceived slight by former teammate Jenson Button, posting telemetry from his and Button’s qualifying laps at Spa – but that’s just something that comes with the package that is Lewis Hamilton.
NO DEARTH OF TALENT
A driver, who in the minds of many including Niki Lauda, is the most naturally fastest driver on the F1 grid. Not to mention Rob Wilson, the renowned racing driver coach who has worked with both Hamilton and Rosberg.
“Lewis is the driver on the current grid who is the most comfortable on the brakes and can push just that little bit harder than anyone else while maintaining the balance of the car,” said Wilson about Hamilton. “However, he is the kind of driver who will get in a car and drive it fast, he won’t go down into the bowels of a team and lead it.”
That could be one of the reasons why despite not being as marketable as Hamilton, Mercedes have signed him to a two year contract extension.
“He’s a very economical driver who never hurries his movements inside the car and takes the time to fully understand the car,” said Wilson about the man who scored more points and wins than Michael Schumacher while the two were teammates at Mercedes from 2010 to 2012.
CONFIDENCE OF A WINNER
To that I can personally add that Rosberg is a supremely confident man as well after having had the chance to chat with him during the first two editions of the Indian GP at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.
The second, in 2012, was while on the way to the circuit in the car that was chauffeuring him around during his stay in India.
Watching him joke with the driver in an effort to make him “beat everyone to the circuit and on the track too” gave the impression of someone who wouldn’t be fazed by Hamilton’s presence in the team.
“If you’re not teammates then it is difficult to know the specifics of someone else’s driving styles but I am confident I will do well against Lewis,” he said in between egging on the amused driver.
So far Rosberg has definitely put his money where his mouth is.
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