Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg recently took a light dig at his former teammate Lewis Hamilton for colliding with him back in the 2016 F1 Spanish GP. Rosberg is one of the five drivers to win seven consecutive races in Formula 1.
While speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Matt Baker named all the drivers to win seven consecutive races. The list consisted of Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, and now Max Verstappen. At first, Rosberg, who was also present in the podcast, acknowledged the honor of being included in the list.
He then took a light jibe at his old rival, Lewis Hamilton, for crashing into him in Barcelona and how it would have been his eighth consecutive win if he had completed the race normally.
"I mean, what an honor to be like in that sentence as part of that. Seven in a row, yeah, that was quite cool. I would have had eight if Lewis wouldn't have shunted me off in Barcelona, for those of you who remember that race in 2016," Rosberg said.
Later on, for the record, Rosberg stated that he was smiling and that it was only a joke and not a serious charge against his old Mercedes teammate.
"I'm laughing, by the way, for those of you who can't see me now, because that was a joke. That was a joke!" he added.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's rivalry is well known in the F1 community, as both drivers were in an intense fight for the world championship back in 2016.
In the end, Rosberg came out victorious and clinched his one and only drivers' world championship. Right after the 2016 season, he retired from the sport for good.
Lewis Hamilton on downforce and car concept difference between Mercedes and Red Bull
After Max Verstappen and Red Bull won the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, Lewis Hamilton urged Mercedes to gradually follow their path in order to improve W14 and the future 2024 F1 car's performance.
The Brit also explained how Red Bull manages to obtain a lot of their downforce from their floor, which is more than what Mercedes tries to achieve through their bigger wings.
Hamilton told Sky Sports F1:
"We generally have a bigger wing than some of the others, like the Red Bulls for example, but they seem to have more downforce from their floor. We have a lot of work to do. I am like a broken record. I’ve just gotta keep telling the guys ‘we need to go in that direction’. I would like to see that either with this year’s car or next year."
Lewis Hamilton is currently fourth in the drivers' championship with 133 points.