Brought to you by TheJudge13 contributor Luke Rees
There have been numerous high profile sporting rivalries throughout history – Bjorn Borg vs. John McEnroe, Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier, and of course, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost (to name a few).
But what makes Formula 1 slightly more interesting, is that rivalries can form within teams: between 1988 and 1989, Prost and Senna were both driving McLaren, whilst also competing against each other for the top position.
Egos are also sky high in Formula 1 Racing and frequently take precedent over the team effort. Just look at Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2013, joining his old racing kart friend, Nico Rosberg. And although everything started out nice and friendly, it’s since descended into a fierce feud: as the German said in an interview, “the more success we have, the tougher it is.”
The Go Karting Days
Hamilton met on the go-kart track when they were just 14 years old, and even back then there was competition, with both wanting to win. In the hotels they shared between races, they would wrestle each other in the rooms: “It was so competitive between us,” Rosberg said, “It’s the same today.”
Both dreamed of one day making it big in Formula 1 racing. For Nico, this was more certain, seeing as his father was himself an F1 driver (world champion in 1982), but for Hamilton it has been less so: “We were talking about how cool it would be, one day, if we were in Formula 1, just how cool it would be to be team-mates. We said it several times,” said Hamilton.
But now that they are team mates, racing has become much more about business and less about childhood dreams. This has, of course, led to strains on the boyhood relationship that once was.
How Hamilton and Rosberg Differ
Although both neck-and-neck on the racing track, this certainly isn’t the case off the track. Hamilton – brought up on a council estate in Stevenage the son of a British Rail worker – and Rosberg – raised in Monaco – both have very different personalities, which is evident when you take a look at their differing lifestyles.
While Hamilton courts fame and lives the rock star lifestyle, Rosberg’s life is much more family-orientated. Although both are aged 30, Rosberg appears more quiet and settled – instead of schmoozing on the red carpet with celebrities, or hanging out with celebrities in Beverly Hills, Rosberg says he likes nothing more than cosying up with his wife, Vivian, and dog over a good documentary. The couple even have their own bio-garden, from which they gather fresh fruit and vegetables to make smoothies.
Naturally, there is a link between personal and racing life, which has been likened to that of Senna and Prost. Hamilton takes on the role of Senna, the bold, intuitively talented racer who goes all out for victory, while Rosberg is more like ‘Professor’ Prost – a man whose consistency and calculation brought reward.
Can They Reconcile Their Differences?
Zak Brown, an F1 marketing and sponsorship executive, say that Lewis Hamilton is on the road to becoming one of the world’s biggest ever sporting personalities, even as big as Tiger Woods. With his personal appearance, constant jet-setting and growing affiliation with A-list celebrities, Brown said Hamilton is cultivating a “rock star status“.
He has already matched the title record of Ayrton Senna, his hero, and he looks in no way close to stopping his dominance in the sport. He is also one of the front runners for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year
Rosberg, the quieter of the two, pipped Hamilton to the finish line at the Mexican Grand Prix – his first victory in four months. Hamilton was not happy, that was clear to see by all.
Should Rosberg be able to keep the momentum and Mercedes maintain their substantial advantage in 2016, can these two opposite figures maintain some kind of relationship, or will it turn completely sour as the desire for more glory intensifies?
Hamilton has the measure of Rosberg so apart from perhaps the atmosphere deteriorating and maybe the cordial pleasantries being absent what does it really matter? Can’t see Hamilton losing to him through the course of a season.
I agree, although I would love to see Rosberg beat Hamilton at least once. But I think it won’t happen. As of Senna/Prost comparison. Hamilton is no Senna, and Rosberg is even less Prost. The only consistency he has is consistently losing to Hamilton. 4 wins in season in a dominant car is not good enough.
From 2006-13, Rosberg was nothing more than just another ‘driver’ who’s the son of s former WDC. The best thing that happened to his career was the day it was announced Lewis was joining the team.
So I find it absolutely ridiculous with this bullshit rhetoric about how he’s ‘Prost like’, no one champions this nonsense more than Hill. He can’t even remember his damn start procedure.
Should the Ferraris be as competitive as expected next year, Rosberg will be found out. He won’t be capable of keeping Vettel behind him and will probably struggle with Kimi. Rosberg is a journeyman driver, he’s lucked into a great car. Before the V6 he was never known for getting unexpected results, but he did, and continues to make errors when he’s put under pressure. As Lewis might say – he get windy.
Do you mean ‘unexpected results’ such as frequently beating team-mate Schumacher, who may not have been at his peak but hadn’t suddenly forgotten how to drive ? That the car itself was a tyre-eater and upper-mid-field contender meant that neither driver was winning races, but why let something as trivial as that get in the way of an opinion ? 😉
Journeyman drivers don’t out-qualify Lewis Hamilton over a season. Rosberg did. I also find it amusing you reckon he will probably struggle with Kimi given that if anyone has been found out this season as (now?) no better than journeyman it is surely Kimi who has been totally dominated by Vettel.
Well, that or Rosberg will find himself so cornered he might actually perform to levels that he could not access before. If he is pushed to extreme levels of desperation (to prove he can fight at the bleeding edge) then we might see a side of Rosberg we haven’t seen yet.
My guess is that we won’t, perhaps because that side of him is non-existent or quite simply because he is more down to earth, not to bothered about proving his point in F1 and content with accumulating beyond 7 figures every year and learning how to make proper financial investments.
Agree completely, Fortis.
Prost is, in my opinion, one of the top 5 or 6 drivers to grace F1. He’s right up there. He was one of the very best racers ever and only bettered in pure one lap pace by Senna – which isn’t that shameful.
He’s won 4 titles and genuinely competed for at least 3 others; and he’s done this for many different teams / cars throughout his career.
He’s also won 51 races with those teams – from only 200ish starts – which is still only bettered by Schumacher.
For a good period, he set the standard. His whole career is, more or less, sustained success.
He fought Senna, who some consider the F1 GoaT, to a standstill over two seasons – on track and off track. It was vicious. Both used every political connection they had, both used every on-track tactic they could. Mistake were made on both sides. Senna later recognised that after Prost retired.
Senna is “Senna” in large part because of what Prost is, was and means.
Rosberg shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence as Prost, in my opinion.
As for the intelligence… Prost – again in my not-so-humble opinion – was brilliant. At best, Rosberg is “methodical”.
I still chuckle at DWil’s perfect, accurate and sharp observation on the myth of Rosberg’s superior intellect.
“And what of Rosberg’s fabled intelligence? What is it based on – that he was offered to attend university to study engineering, something he was purported to prefer studying in college??? Are we now so mediocre a society that finishing high school is the sign of intelligence?” – Dwil
That college acceptance fact being used to support the “Rosberg genius” hypothesis really only reflects on the person promoting such a notion.
Damn right! If he was ‘Prost like’ as Hill would have many believe, I’m damn sure Prost wouldn’t have fallen for the same move that we saw Lewis pull on him in Suzuka, Bahrain (2014) and Austin.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times call me Nico Rosberg….
Agreed, with both Fortis and WTF_F1. Rosberg is Mr Average. Prost was never ever average, he was sensational. People liken Button to Prost, but again that’s not fair on Prost. He was far superior to JB.
I still remember Nico’s debut in Bahrain – overtaking others and setting fastest lap (from memory, no short cut check via Google/wiki). It was exciting.
But somewhere, he became the victim of his myth: his mind. if only he could race as free as that first race again… But it’s his mind, his thinking, his trying to understand it all (including his breathing) which hinders him. If only he really trusted his body, his talent, he could’ve been that champ!
Wow. Nico Rosberg has never beaten Lewis Hamilton for any duration of time – that includes karting days. I really really REALLY wish people would stop conveniently forgetting Rosberg’s infamous statement after the 2014 China GP (and all of you know what happened between he and Hamilton): “It was just like when we were teenagers.” THAT is the difference between Nico and Lewis. For Nico, he thought his genes and his F1-generated privilege would be enough to win.
At age 30, after beginning his F1 career in 2006, he’s yet to figure out what it takes to be a winner. And for “intuitively talented” Lewis Hamilton, as James Allen said, “The greatest trick Lewis ever pulled was convincing lots of people he’s stupid.”
I still have confidence that Rosberg will come back stronger next year and run his illustrious team mate as close as he ever has. It hasn’t fallen into place for him this season but he has shown his speed in the last 4 races. All it takes is an upturn in form plus the luck to run your way and he will be right there fighting for the WDC. When push comes to shove, I do believe that, unlike Raikkonen, Rosberg still has the fire in his belly.
Sure he has fire in his belly, but his biggest problem that his teammate is the fire extinguisher.
What rivalry?
Rosberg never recovered from that dustup last year when he bumped Hamilton, sliced his tyre, ended up saying afterward something like I wanted to teach him I’m not giving way ….or something like that. Team seemed to back Ham and from then on he’s been tentative. Ros never recovered after the booing. Now maybe he never had the talent or heart, I don’t know, but imho something in his head changed after that race.
Hamilton, loke him lifestyle or not, is a World Champion.
Rosberg is and will be a #2 all his life.
Rivalry? Vettel seems more like a rival to Lewis than Nico does. I don’t see Nico as a Prost, and Hamilton is no Senna, as much as he wishes he was. Hamilton is a great driver among others in F1, but I don’t think Nico has shown himself to be one. Put Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen and Bottas in a Mercedes and Hamilton would have some tough competition, although he has made very little mistakes this season, if any.
The only person on that list who would give Lewis serious problems is Seb.
kik- Serious question: who thought Nico Rosberg was even a near-great F1 driver before that incident? Y’know, just because you finally best a former 7-time WDC… when he took years off before coming back to the game and is in his FORTIES isn’t exactly a confidence booster.
What Nico Rosberg really is, is a serviceable Formula One driver who, by birth to a former WDC, has been afforded the opportunity to pursue the same craft as his father.
Strip Nico Rosberg of the pedigree and want to be like dad and drive an F1 car and what is he? He’s a European commercial actor who is known for selling high-end commercial products. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with that! You can make a perfectly good living and have, perhaps even more notoriety than he has now as a well-known commercial actor.
Its funny how you critics rate drivers like your experts on the subject. Every Driver in F1 is amazing, even the pay drivers. They would totally humiliate you all in any type of car or on any track.
Sure and I bet you don’t rate or critic any driver, right?