WELL DESERVED
The childhood friends have been
fierce rivals in Formula 1 and their
body language was distinctly frosty
immediately after Rosberg clinched the
world title.
There was minimal eye contact as
they waited to go on the podium, where
they did eventually shake hands in front
of the crowd.
Hamilton had done his best
to scupper Rosberg’s chances by
deliberately slowing the pace from
the front, hoping to back Rosberg into
a position where rival drivers could
overtake the German in a last-ditch
effort to overhaul his 12-point deficit.
“Lewis is one of the best of all time.
He sets a high standard,” the 31-yearold Rosberg told reporters. “It will always
be difficult between us. We are in the
same team and race against each other
for titles. It is virtually impossible to have
a good relationship. We used to be best
friends when we were young so at least
we have this respect for each other. This
helps somewhat,” he added. “I do not
know how he feels at the moment but I
know how I felt in 2014 and 2015.”
Rosberg lost any hope of claiming
the 2014 title with an engine problem at
the final race of that season but, unlike
Hamilton, has had no such reliability
issues this year.
“For me it was difficult to stomach.
In 2015 I lost to him again. It will now
take some time for him to process this,”
Rosberg said.