Hamilton–Rosberg rivalry
The Hamilton–Rosberg rivalry, also known as the Silver War in reference to the Silver Arrows moniker, was a Formula One rivalry between British racing driver Lewis Hamilton and German racing driver Nico Rosberg. The rivalry was most prevalent during their four years as team-mates at Mercedes from 2013 to 2016, a period in which the two drivers dominated the sport. The pair's relationship became strained and at times led to volatile confrontations on and off the track, with the duo being threatened with suspension at the height of their rivalry. As a result, it has been compared to the Prost–Senna rivalry.
As teammates, Hamilton and Rosberg won 54 of 78 races over four seasons. Hamilton had 32 victories, 55 podium finishes and qualified ahead of Rosberg 42 times. Rosberg had 22 victories, 50 podium finishes and qualified ahead of Hamilton 36 times. During this period, Hamilton won the Formula One World Championship title twice, and Rosberg won the title once.
History
Some journalists have contrasted the drivers' upbringings. Rosberg, an only child, was born in Germany but brought up in Monaco and is the son of the wealthy former Formula One world champion, Keke Rosberg, whereas Hamilton was raised on a council estate in Stevenage, and his father had to work multiple jobs to fund his son's junior racing. Hamilton began karting in 1993, when he was eight, at the Rye House Kart Circuit, and quickly began winning races and Cadet class championships. Rosberg started out in 1991 at the age of six. The pair were first teammates in 2000, still in karting. They raced for Mercedes Benz McLaren in Formula A, where Hamilton became European champion, with Rosberg not far behind. Robert Kubica, who raced with them before Formula One, recalled how they were competitive both on and off the track, saying: "They would even have races to eat pizza, always eating two at a time."The pair's old karting boss, Dino Chiesa, admitted Hamilton was the faster driver whereas Rosberg was always more analytical. This led some to believe that Rosberg would achieve greater success in Formula One, the highest level of open-wheel racing, due to the intellectual capacity required to manage brakes, energy harvesting, tyre management, and moderate fuel usage. Hamilton's tyre management has frequently allowed him to push on for longer, often enabling optimum race strategies, and his fuel usage has regularly been better than almost anyone on the grid; Sky Sport's Mark Hughes commented: "Rosberg has a more scientific methodology, looks to fine-tune more specifically than Hamilton who typically tends just to find a balance he can work with, then adapt his driving around it." Formula One pundit and commentator Will Buxton compared the character and driving styles of the pair, labelling Hamilton as the faster driver with more natural ability, but with an intellect to match Rosberg's. In 2017, Buxton wrote: "Man to man against Rosberg, I can’t recall a single race this year where in the same machinery Hamilton’s fuel usage has been higher. He has made his tyres last. He has had to fight from the back of the field time and again and yet he hasn’t overworked his tires, he hasn’t used too much fuel. He has learned how to drive these new cars, and to extract the most from them using the least... Far from the unintelligent chancer many paint Hamilton to be, he is proving to be the intellectual match of his teammate and, the better racer to boot."
The two drivers had differing careers prior to racing in Formula One. Hamilton was signed to McLaren's young driver support programme in 1998, after he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at an awards ceremony three years earlier and said, "One day, I want to be racing your cars." After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula 3 Euro Series, and GP2 championships, he made his debut in Formula One driving for McLaren in. Rosberg won the 2002 German Formula BMW title, and drove a Formula One car for the first time in testing for Williams in 2004. After winning the 2005 GP2 championship, Rosberg was confirmed as a Williams driver for 2006.
Team-mates in Formula One (2013–2016)
2013 season: Childhood friends reunited
In September 2012, it was announced after much speculation that Hamilton would be leaving McLaren to join Mercedes for the season, partnering Rosberg after signing a three-year contract with the team. The move was met with surprise by pundits and the public, with some describing the move to Mercedes, a team with no recent history of success, as a gamble.Mercedes finished as runners-up to Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship with 360 points. Hamilton, who scored a win in Hungary, four third places and five pole positions finished fourth in the drivers' standings with 189 points. Rosberg, despite winning two races in Monaco and Britain, finished sixth with 171 points. He achieved four podium finishes in total and three pole positions.
The first sign of tensions between the pair was at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix, where Mercedes implemented team orders, telling Rosberg to hold station behind Hamilton in fourth place. Hamilton questioned the radio call and after the race admitted Rosberg had deserved the final spot on the podium. The incident passed without controversy, drowned out in the subsequent days by the "Multi-21" saga at Red Bull.
2014 season: Hamilton wins the first title battle
After pre-season testing in Jerez, Mercedes were widely considered favourites for, appearing to have reacted well to changes to regulations mandating the use of turbo-hybrid engines. Mercedes' anticipated pace was realised at the season opener in Australia, and also in Malaysia where Rosberg and Hamilton took dominant victories respectively, finishing far ahead of any other teams. Their first intense battle for victory happened at the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix as both drivers engaged in a close duel for the win. A late safety car seemingly swung the favour to second-place Rosberg, who had the benefit of being on a faster tyre, but after the restart Hamilton held firm in a close wheel-to-wheel encounter which passed without the pair making contact. In parc ferme after the race the pair engaged in a mock fight. It later emerged that Rosberg had used engine modes banned by Mercedes to give himself a power advantage over Hamilton in the closing laps. Tensions further arose when Hamilton discovered Mercedes had compiled a dossier for Rosberg to study on Hamilton's performance data. Hamilton, who had outqualified Rosberg in the first two rounds and crossed the finish line 17 seconds ahead of Rosberg in Malaysia, said: "Someone in the team did a huge study on my pace in Malaysia. And since I arrived in Bahrain, Nico had a big document of all the places I was quick and used that to his advantage. So I will do the same for the next round in China and hope I can capitalise."Hamilton arrived at the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix with the opportunity to move ahead of Rosberg in the championship should he take victory. He held off a charging Rosberg late in the race, who afterwards said an extra lap would have been enough to pass his team-mate. It was later revealed that Hamilton defended using the same engine mode that Rosberg used in Bahrain. Two weeks later, at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton was faster than his teammate in all three practice sessions and again in Q2 ahead of the top-ten shootout. In the closing stages of Q3, both Mercedes drivers started a lap; Rosberg first, Hamilton second. Rosberg, on provisional pole, ran deep at Mirabeau and drove into a sliproad, prompting yellow flags and forcing Hamilton to abort his final qualifying lap. Some pundits made suggestions of foul play, to which Hamilton, when asked if he thought Rosberg had crashed on purpose, replied: "Potentially. I should have known that was going to happen." The stewards cleared Rosberg of any wrongdoing and team boss Toto Wolff refuted the conspiracy theory as "bull". Despite this, Hamilton made clear that he felt Rosberg had ruined his lap on purpose. After starting and finishing the race second, Hamilton announced that he and Rosberg were no longer friends.
At the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, Rosberg qualified on pole while Hamilton was forced to start from the back of the grid when a fuel leak set his car alight in the first session of qualifying. Hamilton began to fight through the field before a mid-race safety car shuffled the order, putting Rosberg behind Hamilton but on a different strategy. When Rosberg, on fresher tires, closed the gap to Hamilton, Mercedes asked the British driver to move over, knowing the German would have to pit again before the end of the race. Hamilton, who had battled through from last position, replied: "I'm not slowing down for Nico − if he gets closer he can overtake." Hamilton's decision meant he held on to third, keeping Rosberg at bay in the final stages after his pit stop. Mercedes strongly suggested after the race that they felt that Hamilton's blocking cost Rosberg, his main championship rival, victory; however, Niki Lauda, the then non-executive chairman of Mercedes, spoke in support of Hamilton after the race, saying "From my point of view Lewis was right." No disciplinary action was taken by Mercedes after the race regarding the incident.
The two made contact at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix, where Rosberg was widely criticised for hitting Hamilton at Les Combes, breaking his front wing and giving his teammate a puncture and effectively putting him out of the race. Rosberg would recover to finish second behind Daniel Ricciardo but it later emerged the German had left the nose of his car in to "prove a point" to his British teammate by not backing out. After being booed on the podium, Rosberg was forced to apologise and "suitable disciplinary measures" were taken. However, some defended the German after Hamilton claimed he thought Rosberg had hit him "deliberately", with The Telegraph journalist Oliver Brown describing the remark as "cement-brained... another example of victimhood".
The season long title battle between the two was decided in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, where teams and drivers scored double the number of points awarded for race finish positions for the first time in the history of Formula One. Hamilton had a perfect start, passing Rosberg before turn one to take the lead, subsequently winning the race to secure his second World Championship title. Rosberg finished the race in 14th, as problems with the ERS system on his car significantly reduced his pace. Despite advice over the radio to retire the car, Rosberg said he would like to go to the end and finish the race, which he ultimately did. Ahead of the podium ceremony, Rosberg entered into the cooldown room to congratulate Hamilton on winning the title. Hamilton later paid tribute to Rosberg for his graciousness in defeat. Hamilton finished the season with 384 points, recording 11 wins and 7 pole positions ahead of Rosberg who finished with 317 points, recording 5 wins and 11 pole positions.