Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have had their fair share of moments on and off the track. Their rivalry is seen as one of the most heated ones in Formula 1 history. However, they were very good friends in their younger days. More often than not, an F1 driver’s major rival is their teammate. And that proved to be the case with Hamilton and Rosberg.

How has the relationship changed between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg?

On one end, Lewis Hamilton was born and brought up in a working-class family. His father, Anthony, worked 4 jobs to support Hamilton’s dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver. On the other side, Nico Rosberg’s father, Keke Rosberg, was a Formula 1 champion himself. Nico was born in Germany, but brought up in Monaco. Nevertheless, the two bonded over the dream of becoming an F1 driver in the future.

Their Karting boss Dino Chiesa sums up their relationship perfectly. “Many times I was called by reception about some problem in the room. It might be noise or they might have broken something. They would never sleep, so they were always tired the next morning,” explained Chiesa.

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However, things changed when Hamilton joined Rosberg at Mercedes in 2013. They had always shared a competitive nature. In Formula One, teammates rarely enjoy a strong relationship, and almost never can view each other as true friends. This is because of their mindset to be the best.

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Who can forget their collision during the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016? Or their intense battle under the lights in the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix. The moment Rosberg threw his cap at Hamilton in frustration in the cooldown room is one of the most famous incidents in Formula 1.

Nico Rosberg finally won the 2016 World Championship after closely losing out to Hamilton on multiple occasions. He retired from Formula 1 just 5 days after winning the championship, even though he had a contract until 2018.

Are Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg still friends?

Rosberg’s retirement came as a shock to the F1 world. Although Hamilton and Rosberg do not share a close relationship as they did during their younger days, the mutual respect between the two still remains. The Brit spoke highly of Rosberg after his retirement.

He said, “In terms of missing the rivalry, of course because we started karting when we were 13 and we would always talk about being champions. When I joined this team, Nico was there, which was something we spoke about when we were kids. So it’s going to be very, very strange, and, for sure, it will be sad to not have him in the team next year.”

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Rosberg has also shown respect towards Hamilton after his racing career. Back in 2018, the German revealed his desire to rekindle their friendship.

We certainly wish to see them together as friends again in the near future.