Lewis Hamilton believes that his rivalry with long time friend Nico Rosberg has been blown out of proportion and is adamant that his Mercedes teammate remains his friend despite the tense weekend in Monaco.
Writing in his column for BBC, Hamilton said, “I’ve got to say that the whole rivalry thing with Nico has been overblown. I tweeted last week to say that we’re friends and that’s the way it is, and the way it always has been.”
Controversy in Monte Carlo started when Rosberg made an error on the final lap of Qualifying which scuppered any chance of him being beaten to pole position. Hamilton was on a fast lap before Rosberg shot up an escape road, and which brought the session to an end prematurely.
Hamilton was aggrieved, and visibly seething, “By the time we were on the grid [for the race] I knew we were involved in a mother of a situation, and that for the first time in a while, I was on the back foot.”
“In this sport you do what you need to do to win the race. Nico was on pole and I had mission impossible in trying to get round him but everyone of those millions of people watching around the world knew that I was up for the fight. And I gave it a good shot,” said the 2008 F1 world champion.
After finishing second to Rosberg, Hamilton’s behaviour immediately after the race grabbed the headlines with media and fans alike questioning his sportsmanship and maturity.
Hamilton explained, “Of course, all the best F1 drivers don’t like losing. That’s a fact. We’re all here to win and people know I can’t lie and pretend to be happy when I’ve come up short. I want to win, pure and simple.”
“In these moments, in the heat and noise of the battle, you can forget the bigger picture and with me I always feel better after I’ve slept on it. The next morning I get up and everything is still there outside my window,” reflected Hamilton.
“The immediate emotions start to subside, a sense of rationality taps on my shoulder and I realise that it wasn’t the end of the world as I thought it had been. I still [have] Canada and the rest of the season to look forward to!”
“I’ve had the most positive week since the last race. I’ve just got on with doing what I thought was right. I looked back and studied what had happened and then I took the initiative and called Nico and we buried it. Now bring on the next race!” declared Hamilton who has won the Canadian Grand Prix three times, scoring his maiden F1 victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2007. (GP247)