Hamilton: Respect between Nico and I is bigger than ever

It is a well-known and widely reported fact that Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been rivals since their early karting days, they were friends for many years, then they became teammates at Mercedes whereupon their rivalry turned into a feud, but of late it appears that peace is in the air between the two.

Hamilton said of the relationship with his teammate and main F1 championship rival, “It’s actually really good with Nico at the moment. Really, really good. Surprisingly. I would definitely not have expected it to be where it is.”

“I guess it is probably with age. He’s a family man. He’s got a kid. He has probably grown in that process and I have grown and come of age. The respect that we have always talked about is bigger than it has ever been.”

Rosberg has opened up a 24 points lead over Hamilton in the 2016 title chase, but with 13 races to go anything can happen and incidents are more likely to occur than not.

Recently the pair collided on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix, both retiring on the spot, but they were over the incident relatively quickly. A couple of years earlier a similar incident at Spa was far more intense and destabilising to their relationship.

Hamilton acknowledged, “Now we generally just discuss things. Whether we’re unhappy about something or not, we discuss it face to face. If I have a problem, I knock on his door and ask if I can speak to him privately.”

“We never address it publically or in front of the team. So far, at least. We say straight up: Hey man, I wasn’t cool with that. And he does that to me as often as I do to him.’

“The other day, I was swimming in my pool — the building we live in in Monaco, there is a shared communal pool — and I guess he saw me from his apartment and came down and sat on the diving board and when I finished a few laps, we sat and talked for 20 minutes or half an hour. In a relaxed state,” revealed Hamilton.

But added, “We are going to have our ups and downs and there are going to be times where we hate each other and when we like each other but ultimately, when we have all retired and got kids and stuff, the respect is always going to be there.”

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