“Lewis Was Faster By..”: Nico Rosberg’s Former Ally Points Out Hamilton’s Achilles Heel That Lost Him the 2016 Title

Do you recall how Niki Lauda blew James Hunt away in the 1970s? While James Hunt was a naturally talented driver, Niki Lauda understood his car much better than anyone at that time. While Lewis Hamilton considers Niki Lauda as his mentor, the Austrian probably did not teach the Briton everything that he knew about the racing machine. A former member of Williams’ team and Nico Rosberg‘s ally pointed out Lewis Hamilton’s weakness that cost him the 2016 title. But what was this weakness?

Ever since the dream of winning the 8th championship and getting past Michael Schumacher’s record of 7 was crushed at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, Lewis Hamilton has been trying his hardest to get in a position to compete for a title. However, Mercedes’ poor performance and Red Bull’s dominance means there is no way for the Briton to compete this year. As Hamilton prepares for a final push and pushes Mercedes to develop a competitive car, Sam Michael opens up as to why he lost the 2016 Championship to Nico Rosberg. 

Sam Michael recently discussed the difference between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg during a podcast. Having worked with both of them on different teams, he understands the strengths and weaknesses of both drivers. He suggested that while Hamilton is a talented driver with an abundance of talent; he doesn’t come close to Nico Rosberg when it comes to technical ability. For the same reason, the German was able to beat the now 7x champion. Despite Hamilton being the more talented of the two. 

According to the F1: Beyond the Grid podcast, Sam Michael said, “First of all, he was talented, a very good driver. But if I then look at him against Lewis, Lewis was faster by natural talent. I never worked with them together in the same team, but the ultimate result is that they raced against each other and Lewis was statistically faster more times. But the huge advantage that Nico had over any driver was that he was technically very smart. So he was really good at understanding the car and understanding how the engineering worked. And he used that to his advantage to win the championship in 2016.”

Read More: Why Is the Monaco GP Such a Big Deal in F1?

A complete driver is very much a combination of the two: Talent and Technical Ability. However, if Lewis Hamilton wants a shot at the championship next year, he first needs to sign a contract as his current one ends this year. With the rumors of joining Ferrari flowing around, Toto Wolff spoke up about the contract situation. 

Amid Ferrari rumors, Toto Wolff opens up on the contract extension of Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has been linked to Ferrari in recent times, with many rumors of Scuderia offering Hamilton a $49 million contract. However, Toto Wolff has risen to the occasion as he put all these rumors aside. He explained how every other year before Hamilton signed a contract, these things would come up. There is no need to worry as the team and the Briton are working things out without any time pressure.

According to oe24, Toto Wolff responded to the Ferrari and Hamilton’s retirement rumors. He said, “These rumors come up every two years when we have to sign a new contract. But none of this is true. We discuss normally, without any time pressure.”

Watch this Story | Ugliest Moments in Hamilton-Rosberg Rivalry

Do you think between 2016 and now Lewis Hamilton would have improved his technical ability?