Nico Rosberg: “I’ll be forever grateful to Max Verstappen for that”

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were locked in a bitter in-team battle for the World Championship during the 2016 season. The pair had endured a gruelling season as they travelled to Abu Dhabi for the final showdown. And Rosberg, who went on to become champion, knew he needed a top-three finish to secure the overall title against the multiple world champion at his side.

His Mercedes team-mate at the time and title rival knew this too, and Hamilton reacted cleverly. He slowed the field down, thereby driving Rosberg into the arms of his rivals. And because the German pitted early to pick up fresh tyres, he found himself behind Max Verstappen. However, the Dutchman didn’t want to pit just yet, so Rosberg was forced to overtake the Red Bull Racing star, as Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel were applying pressure from behind.

Rosberg recalls on the ‘Beyond The Grid’ podcast: ‘That was probably the most extreme moment of my entire career, when my race engineer Tony Ross – to whom I am so grateful – told me over the radio that my title was on the line and I had to overtake Max within the next two laps. What? You don’t just overtake Max Verstappen like that.”

A fair opponent: Max Verstappen gives Rosberg enough space

Despite the shock, he found a way past the fast Red Bull Racing star, and thus managed to cross the line in second place behind winner Hamilton and ahead of Vettel. In doing so, he had clinched the World Championship title. Almost ten years later, Rosberg still remembers clearly how Verstappen had held his ground against that decisive overtaking manoeuvre.

“It was an outstanding manoeuvre, and for that I’ll be forever grateful to Max Verstappen, because he was fair and gave me enough space. Truly grateful forever – thank you very much,” enthuses the 2016 champion, who also revealed: “Once it was over, my foot on the accelerator started shaking so badly – from the fear and all the adrenaline, it was uncontrollable. I’ve never had that experience again. I’d never had it before either. My foot was uncontrollable because of all the adrenaline.”

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