At a time when one team has a clear advantage over the chasing pack, the knowledge that two drivers will be allowed to fight head-to-head for pole positions, grand prix victories and world championships has retained interest in a sport losing its popularity.
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“I’m not here to make friends, to finish the race and say: ‘Hey, that was a lovely race, chap, you were so friendly with me, you let me win'”.
Hamilton said that Rosberg complains about a lot of things, pointing that it could be due to their different backgrounds, the Mirror reported.
Formula One team Mercedes will consider changing their driver line-up if the strained relationship between drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has a detrimental effect on their team, their boss Toto Wolff has warned.
A year of simmering tensions came to a head at both the Japanese and US Grands Prix, when Rosberg felt Hamilton had been too aggressive while passing him at the start of the races.
“This is the one opportunity and you take it”, he insists. Rosberg, son of former F1 champion Keke Rosberg, spent his younger years in Monaco.
But this side [of teammate tension] is always blown out of proportion. “You know we’ve had like 16 one-twos (actually, 12 this season), so our relationship isn’t really causing any problems”.
“It is not like he (Rosberg) has been distracted and not finished high up, or vice versa, so I think ultimately it is easy for people to take things for granted”, he added.
“We’re never going to be best friends but we somehow make it work”.
Hamilton and Rosberg have contracts for next year – the world champion’s expires at the end of 2018, while the German’s has just one season left – but Wolff’s comments were a clear warning that both their places beyond then may be under threat.
In an interview with Motorsport.com, Wolff said:”Going forward, we will consider if it is the best set-up for the team”.
“We have not caused any problems and the energy within the team is as high as it is ever going to be and that is because we do what we do how we do it”.
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“It is important to have talented and fast drivers in the vehicle”. We were coming from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and this guy got lost.
