Rosberg saw Hamilton admit mistake: 'That was a win for Russell'

Nico Rosberg believes George Russell cannot afford to be the 'nice guy' with a teammate like Lewis Hamilton next to him. The 2016 World Champion, who drove alongside Hamilton for many years at Mercedes' Formula 1 team, gives advice to the young Brit. 

Tensions regularly ran high between Rosberg and Hamilton. At the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, it came to a boiling point: the two teammates crashed into each other, which Max Verstappen took full advantage of by winning his first race for Red Bull Racing on debut.

A similar result occurred at the first corner of the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, but this time with Russell. Hamilton tried to gain ground at the start, but an overly eager move saw him crash into Russell. They both ended off the track, though Russell could continue in the race.

'Russell can't be the nice guy'

"Things have been heating up there because also in Suzuka it was well over the limit on one occasion when they both took each other off the track," Rosberg said in Sky Sports podcast. "It's a very difficult situation for George as well. Unfortunately, you can't just be the nice guy in that situation - you have to also internally keep the pressure on."

He continued: "You have to make it difficult for the team, unfortunately. It sucks, but otherwise, the team will always just take the easiest route. So it's very uncomfortable because George needs to be pushing - which he does on the radio, you hear him saying things like 'again' and things like that. So he's really trying to hold against it."

After seeing the footage, Hamilton took responsibility for the incident and apologised to Russell. "That was a big win for George in that sense, also internally, which is very rare because in my time Lewis never had 100 per cent fault, so he never actually had to admit in that way. It's to be watched. It's an interesting battle and dynamic opening out there."