Nico Rosberg was confused by Lewis Hamilton’s comments comparing his and Max Verstappen’s past and present team-mates.
Nico Rosberg was confused by Lewis Hamilton’s comments (Image: SKYSPORTS)
Nico Rosberg feels Lewis Hamilton was “correct” in suggesting he’s had tougher team-mates than Max Verstappen in their respective F1 careers, but the German felt it was an irrelevant attack on the Red Bull driver. The British racing superstar penned a new two-year contract with Mercedes this week and stated his desire to chase down Verstappen and Red Bull at the front of the grid.
And he’s already begun the fighting talk, admitting he’s “no more impressed” with Verstappen’s achievements over the past few years than he has been with past champions. Hamilton also suggested that Verstappen’s had it far easier than he did at the height of his powers with Mercedes.
“In my personal opinion, Valtteri and all of my team-mates have been stronger than the team-mates that Max has had,” he said. “Jenson (Button), Fernando (Alonso), George (Russell), Valtteri, Nico (Rosberg). I’ve had so many. These guys have all been very, very strong, very consistent and Max has not raced against anyone like that.”
Rosberg was the only team-mate who managed to get the better of Hamilton for a world title in the same car. And while the 38-year-old felt his former team-mate was ultimately right in what he said, Rosberg felt it was an unnecessary dig at Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton wants to challenge Max Verstappen again (Image: Getty)
Rosberg said on Sky Sports F1: “It’s strange that Lewis does talk about that, like ‘my team-mates were better’. “Where did that come from? [It’s] a bit strange.
“But I do think he has a point. I mean he had three world champions as team-mates. That says a lot, doesn’t it? So I do think it’s correct. Nevertheless, it’s not really that relevant because we all know how amazingly awesome Max is driving.
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“Max is going very strongly towards that same level as Hamilton, Schumacher, Senna. He’s gonna be one of those closely almost top-five greats.”
Daniel Ricciardo is the only former team-mate of Verstappen’s to finish ahead of him in the Drivers’ Championship. That came back in 2017 during Verstappen’s first full season driving for Red Bull, but the Dutchman hasn’t been beaten by a team-mate since then.
Sergio Perez has been unable to match Verstappen’s pace this year with the 25-year-old on the verge of winning a third consecutive world title.
