Nico Rosberg Reflects on “Horrible” Mercedes Team Order in Favor of Hamilton: A Look Back at F1 Team Dynamics

Nico Rosberg reflects on an unpleasant Mercedes team directive that benefited Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg confesses that recalling the distressing memory is "the most horrible thing"

Nico Rosberg recalled a directive from Mercedes that assisted Lewis Hamilton, while talking about McLaren's 'papaya rules'.

The decision-making strategy of F1 teams has been scrutinized following McLaren's choice not to give preference to either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri in the race for both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles.

The battle between Norris and Piastri at Monza played a significant role in paving the way for Charles Leclerc of Ferrari to secure victory at the Italian Grand Prix.

On the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Natalie Pinkham mentioned the McLaren drivers, but in doing so, she jogged Rosberg's memory about something he likely wished to overlook.

"She expressed her reluctance to witness a fellow team member clinch a world title in a vehicle she believed she also had a shot at winning with."

"Seriously, it doesn't get any worse than that…"

Certainly, Rosberg, who shared the Mercedes team with Hamilton, clinched the F1 title in both 2014 and 2015, with both drivers operating the same vehicles.

"Rosberg responded, 'It's the absolute worst.'"

"During my title-winning season, I was directly competing against Lewis Hamilton."

"I was in second place during the Monaco race under rainy conditions. Daniel Ricciardo was pulling further ahead into the lead."

According to the guidelines set by our team, I was supposed to allow Lewis to overtake me at that point. In compliance with the team's instructions, I indeed allowed Lewis, who is directly competing with me for the championship, to pass

"It's dreadful. Being in the car is just awful. Certainly not enjoyable at all."

Rosberg received advice that following team directives contradicts the natural impulses of a racer.

"He responded, 'And all the commitments made to you by the team when they recruited you.'"

Fortunately for Rosberg, he achieved victory in the Formula 1 championship in 2016, during which time he was a teammate of Hamilton's at Mercedes.

The race in Monaco that Rosberg mentioned concluded with Hamilton emerging as the winner.

At that moment, Toto Wolff commented on instructing Rosberg to allow Hamilton to pass by stating: "It's always tough for any racer to come to terms with these kinds of decisions, so we monitored the situation for several laps, hoping the tyre would start performing better.

"After much discussion, it became apparent that there was an issue with the [Rosberg] vehicle – it seemed as though we were dealing with a damaged car."

"Nico displayed excellent teamwork in grasping the scenario, never doubting it for a moment."

In 2016, Rosberg had the last word by clinching the F1 championship and then retiring at the peak of his career.

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