During an F1 career spanning 15 years and counting, Lewis Hamilton has had a wide variety of teammates. While his teammates at McLaren varied, he had just two different teammates at Mercedes.

After a five-year stint with the Silver Arrows, the second of those teammates, Valtteri Bottas, will leave for Alfa Romeo next season. With the Briton appreciating his Finnish teammate on social media, his former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg took a swipe at the defending world champion.

Nico Rosberg speaks about Lewis Hamilton appreciating Valtteri Bottas

Before being teammates at Mercedes, Rosberg and Hamilton shared the warmest of relationships. However, their relationship deteriorated during their four-year stint as teammates.

Their battle for the world championship ultimately turned them against each other, with 2016 being the most open display of this. In fact, Rosberg remains the only driver to win a world championship while being Hamilton’s teammate.

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Following his championship win in 2016, Rosberg retired from the sport. This paved the way for Bottas to be Hamilton‘s teammate. Unlike the German, the Finn barely threatened Hamilton during the last four F1 seasons as he equaled Michael Schumacher‘s record with seven world titles.

With the Finn announcing he will join Alfa Romeo from 2022, Hamilton put out a post on social media appreciating their time together.

As the paddock now moves to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, Rosberg commented on the post Hamilton uploaded for Bottas. He shared his thoughts on why the Briton preferred Bottas as his teammate, saying, “Bottas was super useful. He never beat Lewis, they were chill. That’s why, that’s why [Lewis] says he [Bottas] was his favorite teammate of all time.”

The German then mentioned he was thinking of taking a dig, by writing a comment questioning Lewis whether he considered him to be in that category as well. “I wanted to write under [the Instagram post] ‘What about me?'”

Lewis Hamilton: His Road Through F1 How He Discovered His Love For Racing

Hamilton to team with George Russell in the 2022 season

Earlier today, huge news broke out as Russell was announced to be the defending champion’s teammate next season. In Russell, Hamilton will get a British teammate for the first time since Jenson Button at McLaren in 2012.

However, the 36-year-old’s focus remains on the ongoing F1 season. With the next race in Monza, can Hamilton reclaim the championship lead from Dutch rival Max Verstappen?

WATCH STORY: Lewis Hamilton: Ranking His F1 World Titles From 2008 to 2020