Nico Rosberg vows to reignite Lewis Hamilton rivalry as pair set to clash | F1 | Sport
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Nico Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton to the 2016 F1 Drivers’ Championship while the pair were team-mates at Mercedes which led to heated scenes between the two. Now, they’re set to go head-to-head again after each entering a team into Extreme E.
Hamilton has dominated F1 over the last decade, taking his world title tally up to seven, level with the great Michael Schumacher.
The only blip on the Brit’s record over the last seven years is missing out to Rosberg.
It was reported at the time that the pair would not even speak to each other in the Silver Arrows’ canteen because their relationship became so fractured.
And now they are set to lock horns once again as team bosses.
Rosberg is the chief of Rosberg Extreme Racing, which will compete with Hamilton’s X44 and other teams in the first season of the Extreme E Championship.
The season is due to get underway in Saudi Arabia on April 3 and Rosberg is looking forward to crossing paths with his old foe.
“I am very proud that I beat him in the same car,” Rosberg told Dutch outlet E-Formel.
“Personally, I already knew how good it was back then. He backed this up with statistics in the years that followed, so everyone else now knows that he’s one of the best of all time.
“So I am all the more pleased that our paths will now cross again after four years.
“And not as a driver, but as a team founder. We’ll take up our fight again in Extreme E. This time not only to win races, but also to counter climate change.”
Rosberg has been linked with a return to racing over recent years but he has no intentions of making a comeback.
“My active career is over,” he added. “First of all, I don’t want to be a racing driver anymore because my new life as a sustainability entrepreneur is very fulfilling.
“Second, it is also the lack of off-road experience. I would have to practice so much until I get to the level that is required in Extreme E.
“There are the top off-road drivers in the world. I want to win as a team, so it was also important to me to find the best drivers in the world. I did it, I think.”
After entering a team into Extreme E, Hamilton said: “Extreme E is an exciting new sustainability initiative, and this is a great opportunity to be involved from the outset as a team founder. Of course, my ambitions and commitments with Mercedes in Formula One mean that I won’t be operationally involved in X44, but I’m excited to play a different role in this new series, one that brings my vision for a more sustainable and equal world to life.
“Extreme E really appealed to me because of its environmental focus. Every single one of us has the power to make a difference, and it means so much to me that I can use my love of racing, together with my love for our planet, to have a positive impact.”
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