Rosberg's fear when overtaking Verstappen: "Foot almost trembled off gaspedal"

The battle for the world title between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in 2016 is now on the books as a modern classic. After losing two years in a row to Hamilton, Rosberg was under pressure to win. That battle has demanded so much of him that he retired immediately after winning that title.

The fact that Rosberg was under enormous pressure in that period became clear afterwards. During the season, however, he remained stoic. In an interview with Der Standard, however, he admits that this was mostly an act and goes deeper into the nerves he felt during that last race weekend in Abu Dhabi. For what if he had lost again there?

"That had the potential to mentally harm me for the rest of my life. The dream is so strong, it has so much power over you and I was just very afraid of losing. That morning before the race, I meditated for an hour and every time I started thinking about the fear of losing, I forced myself to focus again." However, this meditation did not help much.

Vibrating foot when overtaking Verstappen

"When I overtaken Verstappen in the race, my foot trembled so much on the accelerator that I was afraid that I couldn't accelerate properly anymore and would lose the race. I've never experienced that before. It wasn't until I was ten seconds ahead of Hamilton that I thought about the party that night".

So you can say that Rosberg walked away from the fight with Hamilton by immediately, but the German has absolutely no regrets about that. "To start a new life at your absolute peak is the best thing there is. It gives a wave of positive energy, maybe for the rest of my life."