- Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had the decisive rivalry of the 2010 in F1
- Despite being friends with childhood, things got tense between them at the elite level
- Now Rosberg has joked that Hamilton is not allowed to enter his house
Nico Rosberg has joked that Lewis Hamilton is still prohibited from entering his house nine years after his rivalry on the track ended.
That is even though Hamilton makes a gesture towards his family annually that he will melt his heart.
The couple enjoyed a successful but sometimes volatile relationship while they were teammates in Mercedes between 2013 and 2016.
Hamilton and Rosberg were friends with childhood, but, at the forefront of their sport, rivalry intensified and by May 2014 the British had declared that “they were not friends.”
Rosberg was asked, who retired in 2016 after winning the world championship of the pilots, about his former teammate, who is preparing for a period of several years in Ferrari.
'The other weak point is probably a painful issue for you. Are both daughters fans of Lewis Hamilton? He was asked in Ndnd Talkshow in Germany.
Nico Rosberg has joked that former Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, is prohibited from entering his home
He said Hamilton brings Christmas gifts every year for his two daughters.
The couple had an intense rivalry in Formula one with the silver arrows between 2013 and 2016
Rosberg replied: 'That is also true. That is even more than a weak point. That is a big problem.
His wife Vivian Sibold added that Hamilton “always gives the barbies (their daughters) for Christmas.”
Rosberg added: 'No, that's great. That is kind to your part. We had an enmity. Now both children have a large gift box at his door every Christmas. It is a good approach.
“You have to stay out of the door,” he joked. “But he is welcome to leave the gifts.”
The tension between the duo was a destabilizing force sometimes, but that also stressed competitiveness and the desire to win in Mercedes, and Toto Wolff managed to maintain things under control.
There were several inflammation points: collisions in Belgium and Spain, the team orders ignored the surrounding overtaking and mutually forcing themselves to leave the track.
The close contact was inevitable by sharing the acute end of the grid. Between 2014 and 2016, Hamilton and Rosberg occupied the first two places at the table every season.
At that time, they recorded 31 1-2 finishes. Rosberg reached its maximum point in 2016 when he put Hamilton to the title for five points, just enduring when the British won the last four races, and resigned after that, to be replaced by Valtteri Bottas.
“It happened immediately when we fight for the world championship, not before,” Rosberg told Eurosport about the breakdown in relations. 'But that is always the case. When you are fighting for success in each race and titles, it doesn't work anymore.
'It was an accumulation of one race to the next. If you want to decide the world championship for yourself, you can't play “love, peace and harmony.”
'You must try the limits and go to the gray areas to win, especially when two drivers are at such a high level. Then it is often tightened.
So iconic was his Rilvary that his own name was even given: Silver's war.