Rosberg Reflects on Painful Mercedes Team Orders Favoring Hamilton Amidst McLaren Controversy

Nico Rosberg reflects on a "terrible" Mercedes team directive that benefited Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg confesses that the memory is "the most dreadful thing"

Nico Rosberg recalled a Mercedes directive that benefited Lewis Hamilton while talking about McLaren’s 'papaya rules'.

The issue of team orders in Formula 1 has gained attention as McLaren chooses not to favor either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, even though they are competing for both the drivers' and constructors' titles.

The battle between Norris and Piastri at Monza may have played a role in giving Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc the opportunity to clinch the victory at the Italian Grand Prix.

Natalie Pinkham was talking about McLaren’s drivers on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, but she also brought up a memory for Rosberg that he might have wished to leave in the past.

She expressed that it’s disheartening to watch a teammate clinch a world championship in a car that you believe you could have won with too.

"That must be the most terrible…"

Rosberg, who was Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes, clinched the F1 championship titles in both 2014 and 2015 while they competed with the same cars.

Rosberg responded by saying, "It's absolutely terrible."

"During the year I won the championship, I was directly competing against Lewis Hamilton."

"I was in second place during the rainy Monaco race, while Daniel Ricciardo was pulling far ahead."

According to our team regulations, I would have allowed Lewis to overtake me at that time. In fact, I did let Lewis pass, following team instructions, even though he is my main competitor for the championship!

"That's terrible. Being in the car is awful. It's definitely not enjoyable."

Rosberg was informed that following team instructions likely contradicts the natural instincts of a race car driver.

"And everything the team assured you when they recruited you," he responded.

Fortunately for Rosberg, he achieved victory in the 2016 Formula 1 season as a teammate of Hamilton at Mercedes.

The Monaco Grand Prix, which Rosberg mentioned, ultimately saw Hamilton emerge as the winner.

During that period, Toto Wolff commented on the directive for Rosberg to allow Hamilton to pass: "It is extremely challenging for any driver to accept such circumstances, so we monitored it for several laps and anticipated the tyres to perform better."

“We discussed the issue extensively, and it was evident that there was a problem with Rosberg's car – it was as if the car had sustained damage.

"It was excellent teamwork on Nico's part to comprehend the situation without ever doubting it."

In 2016, Rosberg clinched the F1 championship and then decided to retire at the peak of his career.

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