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Rosberg on Schumacher and Hamilton: "Big difference is diligence"
- GPblog.com
Nico Rosberg has attempted a comparison between Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton . Rosberg drove with both drivers in one team, as he was Schumacher's teammate from 2010 to 2012 and Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes from 2013 to 2016. According to the one-time World Champion, his compatriot was mainly a hard worker, while the current number two in the F1 championship has to rely more on his talent.
"Michael was just so complete as a driver. He covered all areas," said Rosberg, who believes Schumacher was "brilliant" both in terms of fitness and team player.
"He motivates the whole team and gets them behind him, knows all the names, invites them to his house for bike rides and so on, even though he is a seven-time world champion and has 800 million in his bank account or something"
At Sky, Rosberg stated:"Talent-wise, he probably has to be the best of all time. And he really builds on that, that instinct is phenomenal with him." With Schumacher, the situation is slightly different. "A big difference is diligence. Lewis hates test drives. He doesn't like test drives. And Michael, he would drive tests every day, even though he is a seven-time world champion. But because he also knows that you can always learn a little bit there."
Hamilton to move out on his own?
Hamilton is aiming for his eighth title in the premier class of motor sport in 2021. What would Rosberg think if Hamilton managed to leave the legendary Schumacher behind for good in the World Championship leaderboard? "Oh well, I'm not so emotionally attached to it now that I say, 'Hey, Michael actually deserved to hold the record'. Lewis deserves it too and if he manages to do that, then good. I see it more and more as, 'He was really damn fast, and I can be all the more proud that I beat him with the same car back then." Rosberg beat Hamilton by five points in the 2016 World Championship after 21 Grands Prix.