Ask anyone to summarise Nico Rosberg’s 2016 championship-winning year, and you are virtually guaranteed to receive the same stock answer: Hamilton had car trouble; Rosberg did not. Hamilton won more races, secured more pole positions, and, were it not for that engine failure in Malaysia, we would now be hailing the Brit as an eight-time world champion—a scarcely believable seven of which would have come in consecutive order. Tempting though this narrative may seem, a closer examination of the facts reveals a duel far more nuanced than the narrative we’ve been fed might suggest.
With Rosberg turning 40 years old today, consider this piece an attempt to shed light on an aspect of his crowning moment that seldom gets the attention it deserves.
The first and most obvious charge concerns Hamilton’s unreliability—an area in which he unquestionably suffered more than his teammate. In addition to the parts-related grid penalties in China, Russia, and Spa, the then three-time world champion came off worse after a turn-one collision with Valtteri Bottas in Bahrain and, of course, suffered that engine blowout at Sepang. While it's true that Rosberg never suffered to the same extent as his teammate, the claim that he had a clean bill of mechanical health (one Hamilton himself propagated after the season finale) does not hold up.
Brake trouble in Monaco, a grid penalty in Austria, and a coming together with Sebastian Vettel that spun him to the back of the grid in Malaysia ensured that, while he never endured the same misfortune as Hamilton, Rosberg did not have a clear run to the finish.
What’s more, the general focus on Hamilton’s mechanical woes has diverted attention away from another significant variable: his mistakes. In addition to his chronic car trouble, Lewis Hamilton’s 2016 campaign was marred by an uncharacteristic slew of errors.
The then-reigning world champion scuppered his starts in Australia, Italy, and Japan, was predominantly to blame for that coming together in Spain (an opinion harboured by the late, great Niki Lauda), clipped the wall during qualifying in Baku, turned in on his understeering teammate in Austria, and endured a strangely lacklustre weekend in Singapore—during which Hamilton qualified seven-tenths of a second behind Rosberg and posed no meaningful threat to him in the race.
Hamilton was hindered by poor fortune—of that, there’s no doubt—but no analysis of 2016 is complete without acknowledging the mistakes he made under pressure. Mistakes that proved vital in handing Rosberg the points advantage that eventually proved unassailable.
Hamilton has had no shortage of formidable teammates throughout his career. Indeed, his victories over the likes of Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, and even Rosberg himself in 2014 and 2015 are integral to his godlike standing in motorsport. But of all the giants Hamilton has contested in equal machinery, Rosberg remains the only one ever to penetrate the Brit’s psyche.
After securing a much-needed win at round six in Monaco, Hamilton was off and running, winning six of the next seven grand prix. Having trailed Rosberg by a daunting 43 points after round five in Spain, Hamilton went into the summer break with a 19-point championship lead.
Whatever you may think of the late, great Eddie Jordan, the pugnacious team principal was far from an uninformed observer, and when analysing the season-long duel between the two Mercedes drivers, Jordan claimed that, having caught and passed Rosberg by the halfway mark, Hamilton let complacency get the better of him.
In contrast to his teammate, who retreated to his home in Monaco with the sole objective of getting his mind and body right, Hamilton’s antics during this period were a matter of public record. Whether his travels were the definitive cause for the ensuing swing in momentum is impossible to know. What is certain is that, while Hamilton was hit with a grid penalty at the first race back in Belgium, he followed that up with a botched start in Monza, that off-colour weekend in Singapore, and the error in Suzuka.
By the time the crews got to Austin, there were just four races remaining, at which point Rosberg knew that his 33-point lead meant he could afford to follow his teammate home in every single remaining race and still be world champion. Given Mercedes’ imperious form that year (the German giants failed to win just two of 2016’s 21 races), it's easy to see why the German opted to keep his nose clean and bring home the necessary points, instead of risking everything for race wins.
Another point frequently levelled against Rosberg concerns his departure. Five days after clinching the title in Abu Dhabi, the new world champion announced his immediate retirement from Formula 1, claiming that he had reached his ultimate racing goal and wished to walk away with a sense of completion. Needless to say, there are many who see this as an act of cowardice and believe simply Rosberg got lucky and quit while he was ahead. With regard to this point, there is a specific case study we ought to examine: Nigel Mansell.
Imagine dismissing his achievements by stating that he lost out to Alain Prost in 1986, Nelson Piquet in 1987, and Ayrton Senna in 1991, before finally getting a dominant car in 1992, as well as a manageable teammate in Riccardo Patrese. Following this, he crushed the opposition, won the title five races before the end, and bailed before anyone had a chance to take it away from him.
Anyone who tries making that case will be rightfully laughed out of court. Mansell’s reputation has stemmed from the giants with whom he went head-to-head and the epic drives he pulled off—not his decision to win the title and leave. Likewise, Nico Rosberg deserves to be remembered for holding his own against the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and, of course, the two seven-time world champions he beat in equal machinery.
No two world champions are exactly alike. Some have the motivation to make the sacrifice year after year (think Hamilton, Schumacher, or Senna), while others simply do not. Just look at Jody Scheckter, Alan Jones, or Damon Hill—all of whom admitted to experiencing a decline in motivation after ascending the mountain and claiming the ultimate prize. Their failure to add to their championship tallies doesn’t detract from their achievements. Will history regard Nico Rosberg as a greater driver than Sir Lewis Hamilton? Of course not. Does he nevertheless deserve our plaudits for going toe to toe with the most successful driver in F1 history, pressuring him into mistakes, and coming out on top? Absolutely—and the longer one examines the events of 2016, the clearer that picture becomes.
Don’t get it twisted: this is not an attempt to tarnish Hamilton’s reputation; the man’s record has long since spoken for itself. It is a counterpoint to the erroneous claim that Nico Rosberg was not an outstanding driver or a thoroughly deserved world champion.
