The Innocent Origins of Lewis Hamilton’s Camaraderie With Mercedes Pariah Nico Rosberg: “They Were Just Kids…”

In an era where Max Verstappen has found himself to be one of Lewis Hamilton’s greatest rivals, echoes of the Silver War still hang in the halls of the sport. The Verstappen vs Hamilton saga featured clashes between man and machinery; however, the Silver Wars were mano-a-mano. F1’s Poster Boy Lewis Hamilton against the Pariah with the silver spoon, Nico Rosberg.

The internal conflict between the Mercedes drivers was a dramatic plot of friends turned to rivals which only exposed the true cut-throat nature of F1. In a sport where your teammate is your greatest competitor, Rosberg and Hamilton often found themselves on a battleground for glory.

Although, it wasn’t always like that between the two. Growing up as karting teammates, the German and the Brit entered Formula 1 as friends. While their rivalry was dotted with on-track conflicts, team orders, and off-track taunts, what truly made the fight iconic was the fact that there was a time when the two drivers were the best of mates.

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Before things went south at Mercedes, many people close to the team provided rather contrasting anecdotes to what we know of the two drivers. Although it was their competitiveness that led to their eventual public tiff, it was also what once connected the two fierce drivers. Robert Kubica recounts a rather wholesome example of this: “They would even have races to eat pizza, always eating two at a time.”

Teammates during their karting career, their boss recalled the innocent friendship the boys shared, “Many times I was called by reception about some problem in the room. It might be noise or they might have broken something. They would never sleep, so they were always tired the next morning… During the night, they wanted to eat ice cream always, so I had to go out everywhere and find some to keep them happy. They were just kids.”

Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg: A Friendship Turned Sour

As they grew older, the competition grew with them. Usually, on par with each other, Rosberg had the upper hand in one aspect- he knew how to ride the unicycle. Displeased, Hamilton learned the art in two days. “Probably the first bit of real competition we had was when Nico used to ride a unicycle everywhere. So I thought ‘I’ve got to learn to ride this unicycle. I’ve got to be better than him’. “

This relationship and healthy rivalry have left Hamilton nostalgic at times. “I have never laughed so much than when we were racing together… We had some great races together and built a great relationship. We were just arriving and enjoying go-karts and eating pizzas every weekend, fighting all the time and just having fun, whereas now it’s all business.”

Rosberg too, has mentioned missing his old friend. “Every other day there are moments or things that pop up and I can smirk and think, ‘that’s exactly the same as it was 15 years ago’.

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As things slowly turned tempestuous between the friends, Rosberg looked back at the environment in Mercedes as one reason for igniting the feud. The concept of first and second drivers is nothing new to the sport, but with determination this high, someone had to be left with a sour taste.

What could’ve been a fortress ended up being their biggest shortcoming as teammates. It soon split the Mercedes garage into two camps- breeding animosity between the two drivers. Eventually, Rosberg took the crown he fought long and hard for and immediately bowed out of the sport while still riding the high of victory on Lewis Hamilton and, more importantly, the Silver Arrows.

To this date, little is known whether Hamilton and his most successful rival ever made amends- the sort that would require a trip down memory lane with pizza and ice cream in hand.