'The Ultimate Benchmark'- Nico Rosberg gets emotional about his former teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton

Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg remembers his friend, foe and teammate Lewis Hamilton on his birthday and gets pretty emotional talking about the memories with the legendary driver since childhood. The 2016 F1 world champion was the only teammate to beat Lewis in the same car. The other drivers like Fernando Alonso, Heikki Koovalainen, Jenson Button, and Valtteri Bottas failed to beat him in similar machines.

There was some rust between Nico and Lewis during their days at Mercedes as teammates. It went to a boiling point during the 2015 Spanish Grand prix when the two Mercedes collided and helped Red Bull’s new debutant Max verstappen win the race.

Nico Rosberg was under immense pressure mentally and physically when facing Lewis Hamilton as a challenger. But he won the 2016 world championship and retired from the sport. After all the rust and beef between the two drivers, the German has showered full praise over the 7-time world champion on his 40th birthday.

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Rosberg remembers his teammate

He called Lewis a genius and a natural talent never seen in F1. Talking about his days with him at Mercedes Rosberg says, “It was amazing to be a rival there for some years and share the success of the Mercedes team, and then to watch them go on and continue that streak for so many years. It is a very emotional day today for everybody there. Amazing story.”

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The Former champion called Lewis Hamilton the 'Ultimate Benchmark' in F1 and was very hard to beat as a rival. Only Max Verstappen and Nico Rosberg have beaten the legendary driver during his prime. Rosberg also talked about their childhood days growing together as race drivers. He added, “I have known him since I’m 13 years old, because I was already a teammate in go-karting with him. But all the better, all the sweeter, for me, that then I did manage to beat him as my rival.”

Lewis Hamilton has bid goodbye to the Mercedes team and will join Ferrari as their new driver for the 2025 season. If he gets the perfect car that suits him well, he will again challenge for his lost title and show the world what he is made of.

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