Lewis Hamilton: Nico Rosberg on 'huge respect' for former team-mate's Mercedes career after stirring final drive

9 December 2024, 12:34 | Updated: 10 December 2024, 06:22

Nico Rosberg hailed "greatest of all time' Lewis Hamilton's final drive for Mercedes in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and paid tribute to his former team-mate's unprecedented success at the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton charged from 16th to fourth on his 246th and final appearance for Mercedes last Sunday in a stirring drive that saw him overtake team-mate George Russell on the final lap.

And Sky Sports F1 pundit Rosberg, who drove alongside Hamilton at Mercedes from 2013 to 2016 before retiring after beating the Briton to the latter world title, was wowed by what he had seen.

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"The way he drove was the drive of a seven-time world champion, greatest of all time because that race speed again," said Rosberg.

"He passed George at the end and George started right towards the front and Lewis started at the back. It was a phenomenal drive by Lewis."

On the final-lap pass of Russell at Turn Nine itself, Rosberg said: "That was insane!

"The way he lined him up, it was perfection. Through that whole section around the back, overtaking on the outside. Amazing.

"The drive of a seven-time world champion. Respect."

'Maybe the greatest natural talent the sport has ever seen'

Rosberg's relationship with Hamilton dates back to their teenage years when they were first team-mates in karting.

Hamilton has been signed to Mercedes since the age of 13 in 1998, when he was first part of their young driver programme at then works partners McLaren.

After spending the first six years of his F1 career at McLaren, where he won his first world title in his second campaign in 2008, Hamilton joined Rosberg at Mercedes' own works team almost 12 years ago.

And after watching a special Sky Sports F1 feature aired during Abu Dhabi GP coverage which saw Hamilton and Martin Brundle drive some of the seven-time champion's old cars on track at Silverstone earlier this year, Rosberg said:" Even for me, it's emotional to watch this, because of course, I witnessed it from so close, and it's the greatest partnership in Formula 1 history.

"It's crazy that it's coming to an end, and for him also, he's been with the Mercedes family for 30 years almost.

"And again, I was there. We started racing with each other when we were 12 years old, so I was there from the very beginning, which even gives me goosebumps now just thinking about the whole thing."

Rosberg paid tribute to his former team-mate's achievements at Mercedes, and in F1 as a whole over the past 18 seasons, ahead of the 39-year-old's blockbuster switch to Ferrari this winter.

"He certainly has one of, or maybe the greatest natural talent the sport has ever seen. It's just unbelievable," said Rosberg.

"And there's so many occasions where we have the same car, we go out, we come in and you look at the data of what he's done with that car, and it's just like 'that's not even human. What is that?'

"And I was a decent driver as well, so there were so many occasions where I was just like, 'this is insane'.

"It's great also how he managed to build his life around the success, because we've seen so many times someone very talented win one championship, but to do seven, you have to have a whole life control, your personal life, everything needs to be focused towards racing - and he's managed to do that as well.

"Through all the difficulties, there's been ups and downs but that's also huge respect for that. Because it's not easy, with his background, everything, it's not easy. It's a crazy world and he managed to do that fantastically."

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