The Hamilton–Rosberg rivalry (also known as The Silver War) was a Formula One rivalry between British racing driver Lewis Hamilton and German racing driver Nico Rosberg. The rivalry was most prevalent during their four years as team-mates at Mercedes from 2013 to 2016, a period in which the two drivers dominated the sport. The pair's relationship became strained and, at times, led to volatile confrontations on and off the track, with the duo being threatened with suspension at the height of their rivalry. It has been compared to the Prost–Senna rivalry.
As teammates, Hamilton and Rosberg won 54 of 78 races over four seasons. Hamilton had 32 victories, 55 podium finishes and qualified ahead of Rosberg 42 times. Rosberg had 22 victories, 50 podium finishes and qualified ahead of Hamilton 36 times. During this period, Hamilton won the Formula One World Championship title twice, and Rosberg won the title once.
History
Some journalists have contrasted the drivers' upbringings. Rosberg, an only child, was born in Germany but brought up in Monaco and is the son of the wealthy former Formula One world champion, Keke Rosberg, whereas Hamilton was born on a council estate in Stevenage, and his father had to work multiple jobs to fund his son's junior racing.
Hamilton began karting in 1993, when he was eight, at the Rye House Kart Circuit and quickly began winning races and Cadet class championships. Rosberg started out in 1991 at the age of six. The pair were first teammates in 2000, still in karting. They raced for Mercedes Benz McLaren in Formula A, where Hamilton became European champion, with Rosberg not far behind. Robert Kubica, who raced with them before Formula One, recalled how they were competitive both on and off the track, saying "they would even have races to eat pizza, always eating two at a time".
The pair's old karting boss, Dino Chiesa, admitted Hamilton was the faster driver whereas Rosberg was always more analytical. This led some to believe that Rosberg would achieve greater success in Formula One, the highest level of open-wheel racing, due to the intellectual capacity required to manage brakes, energy harvesting, tyre management and moderate fuel usage. However, Hamilton's tyre management has frequently allowed him to push on for longer, often enabling optimum race strategies, and his fuel usage has regularly been better than almost anyone on the grid; Sky Sport's Mark Hughes, commented "Rosberg has a more scientific methodology, looks to fine-tune more specifically than Hamilton who typically tends just to find a balance he can work with, then adapt his driving around it". Formula One pundit and commentator Will Buxton compared the character and driving styles of the pair, labelling Hamilton as the faster driver with more natural ability, but with an intellect to match Rosberg's. Buxton wrote: "Man to man against Rosberg, I can’t recall a single race this year where in the same machinery Hamilton’s fuel usage has been higher. He has made his tyres last. He has had to fight from the back of the field time and again (think Germany, think Hungary) and yet he hasn’t overworked his tires, he hasn’t used too much fuel. He has learned how to drive these new cars, and to extract the most from them using the least [...] Far from the unintelligent chancer many paint Hamilton to be, he is proving to be the intellectual match of his teammate and, the better racer to boot".
The two drivers had differing careers prior to racing in Formula One. Hamilton was signed to McLaren's young driver support programme in 1998, after he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at an awards ceremony three years earlier and said "one day I want to be racing your cars". After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula 3 Euro Series, and GP2 championships, he made his debut in Formula One driving for McLaren in . Rosberg won the 2002 German Formula BMW title, and drove a Formula One car for the first time in testing for Williams in 2004. After winning the 2005 GP2 championship, Rosberg was confirmed as a Williams driver for 2006.
Team-mates in Formula One (2013–2016)
2013 season: Childhood friends reunited
In September 2012, it was announced after much speculation that Hamilton would be leaving McLaren to join Mercedes for the season, partnering Nico Rosberg after signing a three-year contract with the team. The move was met with surprise by pundits and the public, with some describing the move to Mercedes, a team with no recent history of success, as a gamble.