Much has been written about the friendship Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have enjoyed since their karting days, but in recent years this has become increasingly tense and strained as they battle each other for the Formula 1 world title - but it appears that the respect between the two is intact.
In the immediate aftermath of Rosberg's triumphant weekend in Singapore, his Mercedes teammate and arch rival for this year's title was full of praise for the German.
"First of all, big congratulations to Nico," said Hamilton. "He drove fantastically well all weekend and fully deserved the win,"
When this was mentioned to Rosberg by Auto Bild, he replied, "The respect between us is still there."
"I had a good weekend so it's normal that he recognises that. I would do exactly the same the other way around, and have done in the past," he added.
In Singapore, Rosberg not only won the race but also reclaimed the lead in the world championship standings by eight points, as Hamilton finished third on weekend in which the balance of power shifted even further towards Rosberg.
He has won all three races since the season resumed, after the summer break, however with six races to go it is very much game on.
So much so that Mercedes chief Toto Wolff is predicting that his two drivers will fight for the title until the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
At the same time Wolff said of Rosberg, “I’ve known him since 2013 and that is the best Nico Rosberg I have seen at any weekend since then."
"We have the tendency to say Lewis has awesome pace and this is what we have seen with Nico this weekend – he was just blindingly fast," added Wolff.
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