The highs and lows of the 2014 season pulled on the heartstrings of the Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg relationship, to say the least. But as we head into the 2015 season with Lewis as champion, I ask you: can the pair maintain their friendship?
Lewis always said he and Nico always spoke about racing in F1 together when they were racing in junior formula, even racing for the same team fighting for a title. In 2007, they finally got to share the grid; in 2008 they, got to share their first podium together when Lewis won the Australian Grand Prix, with Nico finishing third. In the cool off-room before they went to the podium, the duo shared a warm hug together with joyous emotions shared.
As the years went by, they remained good friends, despite enduring their own ups and downs in the sport: Nico came close to victory in 2009 at the Singapore Grand Prix, but after a pit stop he misjudged the pit exit and went over the white line, incurring a drive-through penalty; Lewis only won twice in 2009, and saw his outside chance of winning the 2010 World Championship collapse.
In 2013 and Lewis signed with Mercedes, joining the team with Nico. Stories of their karting days and what was at the time a great friendship were constantly reported in the press; they seemed to be very comfortable in each other’s company and very happy to work together, and with two wins for Nico and one for Lewis in 2013, it was clear Mercedes were looking good for the following year.
2014 came and we all saw what the all-conquering W05 was capable of doing in the hands of these two. Bahrain first saw the pair cross swords, with an almighty tussle lap-after-lap. Lewis ended the race victorious to continue his early season form, but Nico made his feelings clear on the podium, saying: “I strongly dislike coming second to Lewis”. Battle lines, it seemed, were being drawn.
Monaco arrived, and qualifying, not the race, became the focus of that weekend. Nico had started a second flying lap, but heading into Mirabeau he locked up his left front and headed down the escape road, bringing out the yellow flags and ending the session. It seemed that Hamilton was about to record a faster lap than Rosberg, and was quite rightly annoyed at the race being stopped. Afterwards, he declared that the two were not friends. It was clear that, for Lewis, a line had been crossed.
Lewis endured a mid-season dip in form and reliability, while Nico flourished. Lewis won the British Grand Prix after a gearbox failure in Nico’s car and this evened up the race for the title once again. At the halfway point, just four points separated the two Mercedes drivers, but more reliability issues for Hamilton saw Nico’s lead extended once more.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, a heavy shower minutes before the start of the race changed the outlook on how the race may have gone; Lewis, starting from the pit lane after his qualifying fire, must have felt strong as he flourished in changeable conditions, yet on his first lap with cold tyres and brakes he spun in turn two and fell to the back of the pack with a slightly damaged front wing. All looked to have been lost, but the determination shone through with daring moves and great pace, and it all came to a head when Lewis was asked to move over for Nico for strategy reasons. Lewis refused to listen to team orders as he felt Nico wasn’t close enough to overtake him, as well as this being a fight for championship. Heading into the last lap, Nico, on fresher tyres, looked to overtake Lewis on turn three, but the Brit shut him out, as he was perfectly entitled to do.
Nico was obviously sore about this going into the summer break. At the Belgian Grand Prix he qualified on pole, but made a bad start and fell to third behind Hamilton and Vettel. He quickly despatched Sebastian and went after Lewis. On lap two Nico, got a good run out of Eau Rouge and looked to make an overtaking move into Les Combes round the outside. However, the two touched: Nico lost a chunk of his front wing; Lewis had a puncture and had to get back to the pits with over three quarters of the lap to go. This was a defining point of the season. Lewis ended up not finishing and Nico finished second and received a roar of boos upon his presence on the podium.
In subsequent interviews as the season wore on, Lewis had, in his mind, declared war on Nico. That clash in Belgium was a catalyst for Lewis to go on to claim five wins in a row from Italy to the US Grand Prix, with Nico taking second place in all of those races except Singapore, where he suffered a strange electrical issue with his car causing him to retire.
In Brazil, Nico fought back to take his fifth victory of the season, and the F1 season then came to the final race in Abu Dhabi. With 17 points between them and double points on offer, it was still wide open between the pair, but after making a perfect start Lewis led the race from start to finish without looking back; Nico suffered engine woes that gifted Lewis victory and his second world title.
After the race it was amazing to see that Nico came to see Lewis after the race to congratulate him on his victory, it was a mature moment from the pair who had been at each other’s throats all season long.
With Mercedes looking to maintain their substantial advantage in 2015, do you think they can maintain a healthy relationship or will it turn sour?
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