Rosberg-Hamilton, Schumi's lesson behind the 2016 title | FP

by VALERIO BARRETTA

Rosberg at school with Schumacher

In the turbo-hybrid era, there have been two most discussed championships, in terms of development and outcome: these are naturally 2016 and 2021. In both cases Lewis Hamilton was left with a bad taste in his mouth: and if it is true that the one inflicted by Max Verstappen (and Michael Masi) remains a wound to heal, the seven-time world champion has not forgotten the disappointment of losing a World Championship with his then Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

The German had been preparing the ground for years for a psychological war that led to the breakdown of relations at Mercedes in 2016. Rosberg has never denied it and it is one of the aspects he borrowed from the experience with Michael Schumacherhis teammate from 2010 to 2012 at Brackley.

Vowles' words

Current team principal Williams James Vowles – former Mercedes chief strategist – confessed that Kaiser Schumi was also behind Rosberg's 2016 World Championship: “Nico learned a lot from Michael. These teachings shaped the Rosberg who later became world champion, that is, squeezing everything possible at the cost of everything else“.

A lesson that Rosberg learned well. Perhaps too well, because the German arrived at the end of 2016 totally exhausted both physically and mentally, to the point of no longer having any motivation to continue his career: “It happened exactly like this. The sacrifice that was painful for me, in which you let go of family, friends and loved ones, he made for that year. And he decided that that wasn't the life he wanted“.