Nico Rosberg still remains the last driver to beat lewis Hamilton in a straight championship fight. The 2016 world champion retired from the sport and after winning the title from his then-teammate Lewis. But interestingly, he mentioned it was not Hamilton that made him nervous when he saw his rear-view mirrors. The German stated it was Red Bull driver Max Verstappen that made him nervous while defending.

” That is the easiest question in the world, Max Verstappen. Even though also Daniel Ricciardo actually but Max Verstappen,” said the 2016 world champion.

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Nico Rosberg explains why he feared Max Verstappen

In his Q/A for his YouTube Channel, Rosberg explained why he was so scared to defend against Max. He pointed out the two incidents in the Mexican GP in 2016 where he was defending from the Dutchman.

“Coming here to Mexico. Oh my goodness, I was fighting for the championship, and somehow miraculously, even though I was due to be sixth in qualifying because I was feeling so uncomfortable out there. I actually managed to nail the last possible lap and jumped to second on the grid.

And then I had Max Verstappen next to me or behind me and we had two comings together. And I had to kind of finish second to keep my championship hopes alive or third in the worst case. At the start, Max just braked way too late and locked up the inside understeered right into me knocked my tires. 

I decided to just drive over the grass to keep ahead of him and it worked out. And later on in the race, he was behind me. He threw himself down the inside on Turn 4 and he just went flying straight on and missed his braking point so I was lucky there. But man, it was so uncomfortable to have Max behind because he’s the one who took most risk.” explained Rosberg.

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Former world champion still backing Hamilton over Verstappen

Nico Rosberg stated that despite Verstappen leading the championship with 5 races to go, he is still backing the 7-time world champion. The German stated that the level for this season has been crazy and stated that Lewis’s experience will prevail at the end.

“Somehow I would still tend lean towards to Lewis. Through experience, and because he normally always wins in the end,” said Rosberg.

Rosberg probably knows Hamilton the best. He continued by mentioning how tough it was to beat his former Mercedes teammate in a championship.

Who will come out on top – Lewis or Max? Let us know.