Rosberg got flashbacks to Barcelona 2016 after Silverstone crash

The story of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton needs little introduction. The two men grew up as friends in their youth but ended up as the biggest archrivals in Formula 1 during their time together at Mercedes. More than once, they clashed, tapped each other, threw their hats around and, in Barcelona, both men completely knocked each other off the track, something that brought Max Verstappen his first victory in 2016.

Rosberg now sees Verstappen in a similar situation to the one he bivouacked himself in. Indeed, the Dutchman's crash at Silverstone even reminded him of Barcelona 2016. "Absolutely yes, because I was there in one of those World Cup battles, wheel-to-wheel racing, and especially also with Lewis, it reminded me a bit of that," Rosberg said to Speedweek.com.

The German even decided to hang his steering wheel on the willows after he managed to grab the world title in 2016. The battle with Hamilton had taken a lot out of Rosberg. Yet he thinks it's different for Verstappen. "I think in my time it was even more complicated because it was within the same team. Here you have the whole team behind Verstappen, the whole team behind Lewis, and then it's the team against the team and that makes it a bit different."

Still, Rosberg understands that it is a blessing for fans to see this rivalry between Verstappen and Hamilton. "I think it's a fantastic battle, a battle of the generations. So to say the star of this generation against the star of the next generation, it's really great fun."