The ‘frustrating’ Mercedes team orders between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg overshadowed by famous Red Bull feud

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Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg struggled to maintain a working relationship at the best of times during their four seasons as teammates in Mercedes’ Formula 1 team.

Their first campaign together in 2013 was the most harmonious of their campaigns, but Mercedes still faced some issues managing them on track.

The 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix is remembered for Red Bull’s infamous ‘Multi-21’ team orders, where Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber found themselves involved in an intense exchange.

Their German rivals encountered an equally sticky situation that day, after forcing Rosberg to remain behind his teammate over fuel saving concerns.

Although they briefly battled, Hamilton remained ahead and the team orders were followed unlike their rivals down the pitlane.

Toto Wolff will ‘never understand’ Rosberg and Hamilton’s fallout and has struggled to understand why the two didn’t get on, despite being close friends as children.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton reveals the race Nico Rosberg left him thinking ‘this can’t be right’

Nico Rosberg felt Mercedes team orders were ‘frustrating’ against Lewis Hamilton

Rosberg forced Hamilton into mistakes at Mercedes but it took him some time to crack the code. The Brit won two titles before his rival managed to beat him.

In 2013, they weren’t title contenders yet, and finished second in the constructors’ championship just six points ahead of Ferrari.

Hamilton scored 189 points to Rosberg’s 171 in their first season together, but that gap may have been closer if they hadn’t received team orders in Malaysia.

Looking back on the race, Rosberg shared his thoughts on the incident after the season ended – months before they would become Formula 1’s most dominant team.

“It was frustrating definitely, yes. It’s not playing second fiddle, it was just not having the right to overtake with where we were,” he told BBC Sport in their 2013 F1 season review.

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

Was Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg better for Mercedes during their time as Formula 1 teammates?

Judging by the numbers, there’s enough of a gap to suggest that one driver was better than the other during their time at Mercedes.

Hamilton was slightly better in terms of starting grid position, beating Rosberg 42-36 between 2013 and 2016.

He enjoyed a slightly bigger advantage in race trim, outnumbering him 44-33 on his way to two championships.

Now he has seven of them and is about to begin a new dawn with Ferrari, where he faces one of his toughest ever challenges.

Teammate Charles Leclerc could be the most talented driver he has ever had to compete against on the other side of the garage, but experience favours him.