In a podcast, Nico Rosberg speaks candidly about the mindset that helped him prevail against Lewis Hamilton in the 2016 World Championship duel
On the High Performance podcast, Nico Rosberg discussed how important it is to show his World Championship rival his limits from time to time. After all, that’s exactly what he tried to do during his collisions with Lewis Hamilton throughout the 2016 season.
“We collided with each other,” said Rosberg. “I just consciously told myself: ‘I have to stay firm. I can’t back down the way I normally would.’”
“By nature, I would have done exactly what I’d done so many times before,” Rosberg emphasized. “I really had to push myself hard there.”
In this context, the 2016 world champion explained: “That was part of my visualization. Those were the repetitions I went through during my meditation. I worked very hard to visualize myself not giving in and remaining steadfast in my position.”
“That was a big part of my visualization, and I even adopted a specific posture for it,” explains Rosberg, who, in the podcast’s YouTube video, positions himself with his chest out in front of the microphone to demonstrate.
Although Rosberg prevailed over Hamilton at Mercedes in 2016, the newly crowned world champion ended his career just a few days later, drawing a line under the most dramatic duel in the team’s history. Meanwhile, the next “War of the Stars” is looming with the championship battle between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
Rosberg said he would have liked to see Lando Norris take a similar approach—risking a collision now and then—last year in his battle against Max Verstappen.
“People say that Lando is basically too nice,” said the 23-time Grand Prix winner. “In wheel-to-wheel duels, he’s always lost to Max. Last year, he lost every wheel-to-wheel duel against Max.”
Rosberg therefore concludes: “What Lando needs to do is stand his ground once and cause a crash. That will send a message to Max: ‘Oh, he’s changing; he’s becoming more unyielding. Maybe I’ll have to take it a little easier next time, or else we’ll crash into each other.’”
“You just have to do it,” is the conclusion of the longtime Mercedes driver.
The 40-year-old emphasizes in the podcast that he knows exactly what he’s talking about: “The real Nico Rosberg is way too nice,” he explains. “I really had to push and be a little tougher at times, even though that wasn’t easy for me.”
