In 2016, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton fought a legendary team-internal duel for the driver’s world championship in Formula 1. The final decision was not made until the last lap of the season, after the Mercedes drivers had previously fought a bitter world championship fight. In the first half of the year, the spectacular climax of the feud came in Barcelona – and the low point in the relationship between two former buddies.
The 2016 Formula 1 season could not have started any better for Nico Rosberg. The German clinched an incredible four victories from the first four races. Teammate and defending champion Lewis Hamilton was only the first to wish well. Before the race in Spain on May 15, the champion was already 43 championship points behind and was under great pressure to succeed.
At the race weekend in Barcelona, Hamilton, who was already a three-time Formula 1 world champion at the time, finally wanted to turn the buck in his favor.
The first win of the season at the Circuit de Catalunya was the Brit’s clear goal. Hamilton laid the foundation with pole position, he drove almost three tenths faster in qualifying than rival Nico Rosberg – a demonstration.
First Hamilton on the grass, then both in the gravel bed
A race start followed that went down in the history books. Even before the first corner after the long start-finish straight in Barcelona, Rosberg overtook his team-mate on the outside lane and took the lead.
After the long drawn-out turn three, Hamilton sucked himself in again and wanted to regain his lead. Rosberg, who had lost speed due to an incorrect engine timing, pulled in and closed the door. Hamilton swerved onto the grass next to the track, lost control of his W07 and crashed into his team-mate. Both came to a standstill in the gravel bed with demolished vehicles.
As great as the disaster was for the Silver Arrows, who completely embarrassed themselves in front of the world public with a team-internal crash while lying on P1 and P2, the joy of the competition was just as great.
Max Verstappen had just switched to Red Bull and was promoted to the former and future world champion team in exchange for Daniil Kvyat. The Dutchman clinched his first Formula 1 victory in his very first race for the new team, a crazy success story! Verstappen was just 18 years old at the time, making him the youngest ever Grand Prix winner in Formula 1.
Max Verstappen celebrated his first Formula 1 race victory in Barcelona in 2016
Rosberg: “Can’t make friends anymore”
At Mercedes, however, the team-internal crash in Barcelona meant nothing less than the first escalation of a feud between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, which, based on the Mercedes logo as “Star Wars”, was a feast for the entire Formula 1 circus and the huge media interest was.
“Lewis came inside, I closed to defend my position. I wanted to win the race. Next he spun on the grass and took me out,” said future world champion Rosberg about the situation.
Toto Wolff ordered both brawlers to report immediately after the end of the race, but only continued to conjure up the world championship fight: “When we decided to let them drive freely, it was clear that something like this could happen. We will them keep racing.”
The much-cited “Star Wars” followed, which no longer had any room for the once strong friendship between Rosberg and Hamilton, who had raced against each other in karting since they were children.
“When you fight for success in every race and for titles, there can be no more friendships. If you want to win the world championship, you can’t play ‘peace, joy, pancakes’,” Rosberg explained years later at ” Eurosport”.
Lewis Hamilton should still win ten races in the following months and put Nico Rosberg under pressure until the last corner of the season. Formula 1 World Champion 2016 was Nico Rosberg for the first time, who then announced the end of his career.
Mats Yannick Roth