The conquest of the Formula 1 title in 2016 required much more from Nico Rosberg than speed on the track. The German revealed that he needed to change important aspects of his personality to be able to defeat Lewis Hamilton and achieve his only F1 title.
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Rosberg ended the initial British dominance at Mercedes by winning the title by just five points in the 2016 season finale in Abu Dhabi. Shortly after achieving the goal he had pursued since childhood, the German driver surprised the paddock by announcing his retirement from the category.
According to the former driver, the journey to overcome Hamilton required such a high level of dedication that he was not interested in repeating the process. To reach the top of Formula 1, Rosberg believes he had to stop acting in the way he considered natural in his personal life.
In an interview with the High Performance podcast, the 2016 champion explained that his personality was an obstacle during the battle against his then teammate: “Definitely. Because the real Nico Rosberg was too nice. I had to force myself and be tougher sometimes, even if it didn’t come naturally to me,” he said.
The German also drew a parallel with Lando Norris’s current situation. In Rosberg’s view, the McLaren driver faces a similar challenge competing directly against Max Verstappen, especially in wheel-to-wheel duels.
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“You have the same example with Lando. In general, people say he is too nice. In wheel-to-wheel battles, he always lost to Max in recent years,” the former driver assessed. For him, Norris needs to show more firmness in a direct confrontation to change the way Verstappen approaches these battles.
Rosberg stated that the British driver should hold his position in a battle, even if it leads to a crash: “What Lando needs to do just once is to hold his position and cause a collision. That would send a message to Max: ‘He is changing, becoming more aggressive. Maybe I need to calm down a bit next time, because otherwise we will crash’,” said the German.
When asked if he adopted the same stance in his rivalry with Hamilton, the German answered directly, referring to one of the most memorable episodes of the internal Mercedes battle in 2016: “Well, we crashed, didn’t we?”, concluded Rosberg, recalling the incident at that year’s Spanish GP.
For the former driver, beating a rival of Hamilton’s level required not only technical performance and speed but also a change in mindset that led him to act differently from what he considered his nature.
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