Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s top seven on-track battles including the Duel in the Desert

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Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg had a bitter rivalry in Formula 1, which culminated in multiple duels on and off the track and three duels for the world championship.

The pair were teammates for four seasons at Mercedes from 2013-2016. Hamilton and Rosberg were a formidable combination and dominated Formula 1 in the early stages of the turbo-hybrid era.

Yet what became one of Formula 1’s biggest rivalries of the 2010s started as a friendship long before they reached the highest level of motorsport whilst in karting.

Hamilton and Rosberg were both successful in their junior careers and when the British driver left McLaren to join Mercedes in 2013, they would rekindle their old duels.

The Silver Arrows were not a force to be reckoned with when Hamilton initially joined. But they hit the ground running in 2014 at the start of the turbo-hybrid era after designing the best car, launching Rosberg into title contention beside 2008 champion Hamilton.

Mercedes’ advantage over the F1 grid had Hamilton and Rosberg fighting for the world championship among themselves, and it was a battle that wouldn’t stay friendly for long.

But, with the dust long settled and after Hamilton and Rosberg reconciled their friendship following the German’s decision to instantly retire after winning the 2016 title, F1 Oversteer looks back at their top seven battles in Formula 1…

2010 Australian GP – Lewis Hamilton passed Nico Rosberg around the outside at Turns 11 & 12

Hamilton headed into the 2010 Australian Grand Prix after taking third place for McLaren at the season opener in Bahrain, capitalising on a mechanical issue for Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages.

Yet Rosberg and Hamilton didn’t have the pace to compete at the very front on a day of mixed conditions in Melbourne, but the Briton pulled off an inspired move to pass his rival.

Hamilton was known early in his career for being formidable in wheel-to-wheel combat and passed Rosberg 26 laps into the Australian GP at the high-speed Turn 11-12 chicane.

The British driver used the slipstream and extra grip from his green-striped soft tyres to sweep around the outside and take fourth place. Rosberg eventually finished fifth, one place ahead of Hamilton after the McLaren driver was caught up in an incident with Mark Webber.

2016 Austrian GP – Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided on the last lap at the Red Bull Ring

The 2016 Formula 1 world championship was a fiery battle between Hamilton and Rosberg which went down to the wire at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Rosberg eventually won the championship but only after the pair’s duel hit a new low on the last lap at the Red Bull Ring.

Hamilton led the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix from pole position ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and controlled the opening stint of the race. But he lost the lead to Mercedes teammate Rosberg on Lap 22 after a slow pit stop cost the Briton valuable time.

Rosberg also kept the lead after his second stop but Hamilton applied pressure, forcing his teammate into a small error at Turn 1 on the last lap. The small error was enough to put the Briton in the German’s slipstream and create a chance to win the Austrian GP at T3.

Yet the pair collided as Hamilton tried to hold the outside line in a clumsy incident as Rosberg went straight and missed the apex. The Mercedes drivers almost touched once more at the exit of Turn 3, as well.

Hamilton would limp on and win the Austrian GP, but Rosberg ended up in fourth place as Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen snuck through, while also drawing an inconsequential 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

2014 Monaco GP – Nico Rosberg took pole position after escaping into the runoff area at Mirbeau

Mercedes dominated the 2014 season and, heading into the Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton (4) and Rosberg (1) had won the first five races of the season between them.

The streets of Monte Carlo make for a track where qualifying is notoriously incredibly important due to the narrow circuit making it difficult to pass.

Thus, the Mercedes duo competed for pole position and Rosberg set the fastest Q3 time by less than a tenth of a second ahead of Hamilton.

Yet qualifying would prove to be very controversial as Hamilton had improved into the first sector before having to slow down at Mirabeau with Rosberg reversing in the runoff area.

Rosberg had braked significantly later at the end of Q3 than he had earlier in qualifying, missing the apex and going into the runoff area thus causing a yellow flag.

Accusations flew that Rosberg had intentionally missed his braking point knowing that Hamilton would not be able to improve. But after an investigation in which they looked at the Mercedes driver’s data, the stewards found no evidence of wrongdoing.

The German driver then comfortably won the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of Hamilton, as Daniel Ricciardo showed good form for Red Bull in the Principality with third place.

2014 Belgian GP – Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided on the second lap at Spa-Francorchamps

Hamilton had suffered a relatively difficult run of two races without a victory before the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing third in Germany and also in Hungary.

Rosberg also beat Hamilton to take pole position at Spa-Francorchamps as Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid, with the pair two seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Vettel in third place.

Yet Hamilton snatched the lead off the line, capitalising on Rosberg stuttering to get away and falling behind his teammate.

But the pair’s battle continued on the opening lap as Rosberg used the slipstream through Eau Rouge and Raidillon onto the Kemmel Straight to draw alongside Hamilton.

Hamilton moved to defend the inside line as the pair braked late for Les Combes and Rosberg made contact with his teammate, damaging the German’s front wing and puncturing his teammate’s tyre.

Ricciardo eventually won the race ahead of Rosberg, as Hamilton retired after the contact destroyed his floor.

2015 United States GP – Lewis Hamilton won his third F1 world title as tensions boiled over off the circuit

The 2015 season saw Hamilton win his third world championship at a canter, clinching the title with three races to go at the United States Grand Prix at Rosberg’s expense.

Hamilton started second on the grid behind his teammate as rain fell at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. But the Briton got a better start and led into Turn 1, pulling off a bold move on the inside that forced Rosberg into take to the runoff area, dropping to fifth place.

Red Bull drivers Danil Kvyat and Ricciardo put up a fight against Hamilton for the lead of the United States GP in the opening stages, as they excelled in the damp conditions.

Rosberg even passed his teammate 18 laps into the race after a failed move two laps earlier. The German also led the race towards the end after Kyvat crashed, before making a critical mistake with eight laps to go and running off the circuit.

Hamilton capitalised and took the victory plus the title ahead of Rosberg. Tensions then boiled over in the cooldown room as the newly-crowned world champion threw the second-place hat at his teammate before the German threw it straight back.

2016 Spanish GP – Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed and retired on the opening lap

Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Rosberg were once again the combination to beat in 2016 but the German driver started superbly, winning the first four races.

By contrast, Hamilton endured a difficult opening four rounds after taking just two podiums. He suffered a mixture of unreliability, incidents and poor starts to the year.

When Formula 1 returned to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix, Rosberg led the 2016 drivers’ championship by 43 points after opening a commanding advantage over Hamilton.

So, Hamilton needed to make inroads into his teammate’s advantage and the weekend started superbly in Spain, taking pole position at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Rosberg, however, stormed into the lead after Hamilton had another difficult start. The pair then battled in the opening turns of the race and Hamilton looked to pass the race leader at Turn 3 thanks to Rosberg selecting the wrong power mode on his steering wheel.

Yet as the British driver moved for the inside before T4, Rosberg’s defence forced Hamilton onto the grass and the teammates collided, causing a double non-finish on the opening lap.

Verstappen capitalised on Mercedes’ misery and took his first Formula 1 victory on debut with Red Bull, becoming the youngest driver ever to win a Grand Prix.

2014 Bahrain GP – Lewis Hamilton outfoxed Nico Rosberg to win the Duel in the Desert

Hamilton and Rosberg entered the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix having each won one race in the opening two rounds as Mercedes’ dominance at the start of the turbo-hybrid era became clear.

The German driver also took pole position by an impressive three-tenths of a second over his teammate Hamilton in Sakhir.

But while they led the field off the line and quickly pulled away, Hamilton took the lead from Rosberg at the start and controlled the race.

Rosberg, though, saved fuel in the opening stint and attacked his teammate into Turn 1 but missed the apex, conceding the lead once again. He tried once more the following lap, but Hamilton resisted and retained the lead.

But at the first pit stop, Rosberg fitted the more durable medium tyres, which would allow him to use the more grippy soft Pirelli rubber at the end. Hamilton, on the other hand, would have to finish the race on a set of mediums.

A late-race Safety Car also allowed Rosberg to push for the lead, using the extra grip from his softer tyres to latch onto Hamilton’s gearbox.

But while the early championship leader tried every trick in the book to pass Hamilton, Rosberg couldn’t find a way to through despite several attempts at Turns 1 and 4. The Briton would take the victory by just 1.085s and had the least raw speed of the two Mercedes.