F1: Rosberg Says Hamilton Best Talent Wise, Schumacher Most Complete

2016 world champion Nico Rosberg has the unique distinction of being the only driver to have driven alongside two of the greatest F1 drivers statistically speaking. He also holds the distinction of beating both of them in the same car - the Mercedes. Michael Schumacher had joined Mercedes as he came out of retirement after a three-year hiatus in 2010 when the team was taken over from what was Brawn GP. He was joined by Nico Rosberg who beat the legendary driver in the three seasons together. Schumacher was replaced by Hamilton in 2013 and while Rosberg wasn't as successful against the Briton who was in his prime, he was close to his former childhood friend in performance in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons when the Mercedes car won its first two world titles and then eventually defeated him in 2016 before announcing his own retirement which many people felt was premature. 

Michael Schumacher was the first man to win 7 world titles till Hamilton matched his record in 2020
Photo Credit: AFP

Rosberg who now is an F1 pundit revealed that talent-wise according to him Lewis Hamilton was perhaps the greatest F1 driver of all time, but he also revealed that he neither was as diligent or hard-working as Michael Schumacher who was already a legend of the sport when he joined the Mercedes team. He also felt Hamilton was very savvy with the way he used the media and manipulated it well to have a positive narrative towards him when he was involved in incidents. 

"Lewis is just an extreme natural talent, in terms of talent, he must probably be the best ever. And he really builds on that, that instinct is phenomenal with him. A big difference is a diligence. Lewis hates testing. And Michael, who would do tests every day, even though he is a seven-time World Champion, but he also knows that you can still learn a little bit," Rosberg explained.

"What he does very well is the whole politics, with the media. He acts very, very cleverly. And even on the track, when you go into the grey areas, it's somehow never really his fault. It's always the opponent's fault," said Rosberg, alluding to something that can also be witnessed this season with his two clashes with Max Verstappen. 

He also explained that Schumacher was a master at rallying the team behind himself and was extremely passionate about the sport compared to Hamilton who did more or less his own thing. He also revealed that Schumacher was hyper-competitive, even more so than Hamilton, and was a master at mind games. 

Lewis Hamilton overhauled Schumacher's record of 91 wins and strives to become the first to 8 world titles
Photo Credit: AFP

"In Monaco, there was only one toilet in the garage. And Michael then goes in ten minutes before, locks himself in. He knows that before we get into the car, we have to go to the toilet again before qualifying," said Rosberg.

"He then closed the door. I'm outside knocking and knocking. No one answers, full of panic. So I finally had to do it somewhere in the corner. Sorry for the details. Lewis can do that too, but he's not like focusing on it all day," he added. 

Rosberg to date remains the only driver to have beaten both Schumacher and Hamilton. The drivers were never beaten by their teammates before they ran into Rosberg in the Mercedes. In Schumacher's case, it can be argued that he was past his prime and had some out of retirement, and had not been actively racing when he returned.