It wasn’t a surprise to any Formula One fan when Nico Rosberg signed a new contract with Mercedes last week. Nico might have hoped the news will have given him a boost going into his home Grand Prix in Hockenheim this weekend, but a terrible start saw him slip from pole to fourth on the first corner and, thanks in part to a five second penalty, he was unable to make it onto the podium.
Hamilton took the chequered flag ahead of both Red Bulls, leaving him 19 points ahead of his Mercedes teammate, as the Brit looks to win the Driver’s Championship for a third successive season.
Rosberg, who boasted a significant point’s advantage after winning the first four races of the season, has had to watch his Championship rival take victory in six of the last seven races and will be glad the summer break has come around, so he can recharge the batteries and work out how he can make his way back to the top of the standings and finally get the better of his teammate.
Nico will be desperate to beat Hamilton, who has been the Golden Boy of the Mercedes team since joining from McLaren in 2013. Competitive tension have caused the two drivers, who were once childhood karting buddies, to become the bitterest of enemies over the last three years. There have been several public flashpoints, both on and off the track, that have not only helped build a bridge between the two, but they have added a bit of extra spice to a sport which was on the verge of becoming one-dimensional, during the era dominated by Sebastian Vettel.
Mercedes clearly have far-and-away the best car on the grid, but the hunger, determination and competition between Rosberg and Hamilton, combined with the “no team instructions” rule employed by Toto Wolff, makes every race as exciting and unpredictable as the next.
Hamilton might have the upper hand at the moment, but Rosberg isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. The two will continue to fight it out for the Championship this year and hopefully for many more seasons to come, as their rivalry is sure to blossom into one of the most personal and captivating rivalries the sport has ever seen.
