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Nico Rosberg has called Lewis Hamilton the greatest F1 driver ever, having partnered two seven-time world champions at Mercedes.
Rosberg raced alongside Michael Schumacher between 2010 and 2012 when Die Regenmeister made his F1 comeback with the Silver Arrows.
Mercedes signed Hamilton when Schumacher retired for good, and their two drivers would become the protagonists of the title race in the early years of the turbo/hybrid era.
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Nico Rosberg calls Lewis Hamilton the GOAT – next to Michael Schumacher’s brother
Speaking to Sky Sports Germany after the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, Rosberg described Hamilton as the GOAT.
It seemed last year as if the 41-year-old’s move to Ferrari might damage his legacy, but he is now in resurgent form.
Hamilton took a record-extending 106th career win on Sunday, his first for the Scuderia. With championship leader Kimi Antonelli retiring, he catapulted himself into contention for an eighth title.
“This is a fantastic day for the sport,” said Rosberg. “It’s historic. He’s the greatest of all time. It’s great that he turned things around, because last year looked so dark and bleak.
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“He was practically on his way home, could have said at any moment: I’m quitting. But he persevered, now feels comfortable in the car, and you can see a positive momentum everywhere.”
It wasn’t lost on Sky Germany host Peter Hardenacke that Rosberg made this comment while standing next to Ralf Schumacher, Michael’s brother.
When Hardenacke pointed it out, Rosberg joked that he was trying to drive a wedge between the two pundits.
Schumacher will always be ‘light years’ ahead of Hamilton, Ralf says, because he built a Ferrari dynasty from ‘scratch’. He won five straight titles at Maranello between 2000 and 2004 – the most dominant run F1 has ever seen – and the Prancing Horse have only had one champion since.
It’s worth noting that Rosberg didn’t face a peak version of Schumacher, which helped him win the overall points head-to-head 324-197 across their three years together.
On the other hand, he arguably took on Hamilton in his prime before retiring at the end of the 2016 season.
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