Nico Rosberg has revealed that his former Mercedes teammate Michael Schumacher taught him how to get under the skin of Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg, the only driver to beat Hamilton during the turbo-hybrid era, credited Schumacher as the master of mind games.
Speaking during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, Rosberg told Sky Sports F1: 'Michael was the absolute master of all time when it came to mind games. I was his teammate for three years. That guy, I mean, he would wake up in the morning and he's a mental warrior. All day long, he is trying to destroy the teammate's mental state.'
Rosberg, who pushed Hamilton to the limit before winning the 2016 title and retiring, smiled when asked by Damon Hill if he learned it all from Schumacher: 'It wasn't disadvantageous that experience, let's put it that way.'
With Hamilton and Max Verstappen tied on points heading into the final race, Rosberg believes mind games will be in play. 'Of course it's possible between rivals. The media is so powerful. And also body language, press conferences – it's all a part of it,' he added.
