When he beat Lewis Hamilton for the drivers’ title in 2016, Nico Rosberg never quite got the amount of plaudits he deserved. Maybe it was because he shocked the world soon after by opting not to defend it. But it is only now, after years of seeing Valtteri Bottas fall way short of Hamilton, that people realize just how amazing Rosberg did to win the championship that year. This sentiment is also echoed by those at Mercedes.

Speaking on the latest episode of the ‘Beyond the Grid’ podcast, the four long-serving members at the Silver Arrows, James Vowles, Andrew Shovlin, Simon Cole, and Ron Meadows agreed that Rosberg never got the credit he deserved.

With Hamilton firmly on the path of going down as an all-time F1 legend, the boys from Brackley were asked if Rosberg gets enough recognition for how good a racer he was, to which Meadows said, “I don’t (think so). His work ethic was incredible. He learned a great deal from Michael (Schumacher).”

Michael Schumacher molded Nico Rosberg’s success at Mercedes

The Mercedes quartet claimed that Nico’s learnings from watching Michael helped him a great deal when he was eventually partnered with Hamilton.

They said, “He very astutely identified what the successful aspects of Michael’s behavior were, which is, work hard, be nice to everybody, be involved. As he learned from that, he took that onto the next few years when Lewis joined us. 

“He was better than we probably tend to remember.”

The last few years of F1 racing have made people realize that what Rosberg achieved was actually quite astonishing. Since his retirement, no driver has come close to catching up to Lewis on a regular basis. The championship fights have been pretty much non-existent in recent years.

Although Rosberg may have given up racing cars, he is still involved with motorsports, albeit in a different role. Rosberg is the owner of Rosberg X Racing, his own team which is competing in the newly launched Extreme E series.

Thanks to Extreme E, the infamous Rosberg vs Hamilton rivalry still lives on. However, on the F1 grid, a different rivalry is emerging. One that involves Hamilton and Verstappen. F1 fans will hope that the Dutchman can create an epic fight for the title this year, similar to what Rosberg did five years ago.

Also Read: Would Never Allow a Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg Situation at Mercedes Again: Wolff