Rosberg might have been a close friend of Hamilton's, but never did he have any intention of not doing his absolute best to be crowned champion.
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The story of Nico Rosberg’s 2016 Formula 1 driver’s championship victory is one that fans had been looking forward to for quite a while at the time. The signs were there. It was not just that season that Rosberg found the form of his life. Rather, he carried forward his form from the previous season to the new one. In 2015, he lost the championship crown to his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. At the time, Hamilton had won the third of his seven F1 titles. Rosberg was looked at as the second driver to Hamilton. Rosberg might have been a close friend of Hamilton’s, but never did he have any intention of not doing his absolute best to be crowned champion. It was this rivalry between the two that led to the legendary battle of the silver arrows.
He had an incredible opening few races in the campaign. Rosberg beat a rather unimpressive Hamilton at the Australian Grand Prix (GP). He also had to recover from what was an incredible start to the race by Ferrari. The German then emerged victorious at the Bahrain GP. In that race, Hamilton was rather unfortunate. He was hit at Turn 1 by another car before power unit issues for the defending champion during qualifying in China and Russia gave Rosberg a routine run to victory. The victory meant that Rosberg now had an incredible 43-point lead at the top of the driver’s championship table. The next stop was going to be Spain.
The 2016 Spanish GP was infamous, especially to Mercedes. It was when the rivalry between the two had reached its boiling point. Hamilton was determined to win his third F1 title that year. If he had then he would have already broken the record. Rosberg was not going to make it easy for his friend, however. After so many victories, and such a strong lead at the top, the German had only one goal in mind, becoming champion.
The German overtook Hamilton into Turn 1 at the race, and it did not seem like he would let the lead slip. There was still a massive part of the race left. But the German was just that good and confident behind the wheel. However, at turn 4, tragedy struck both Mercedes drivers. Hamilton had caught up to his teammate and was now alongside him. A few moments later, the pair collided and crashed out of the race. The crash took a massive toll on the relationship between the two drivers. Both believed that the other was at fault at the time. It was the one moment that escalated the rivalry between the two beyond anything else.
Rosberg, however, then experienced the downs of the season. At the Monaco GP, he struggled miserably in the rain. His form was so poor on that day that Mercedes asked him to make way for Hamilton. The Brit won the race but Rosberg could only manage to finish at a lowly seventh place. He could not make a recovery at the Canadian GP either as he could not do any better than fifth place.
At the Azerbaijan GP, however, things changed a bit. Hamilton made an error in the race and he could only manage to finish in fifth place. Rosberg however, found some of his old form back and marched to an impressive victory. The 15 points that the German won in the race proved to be the difference at the end of the season.
However, the German could not make an immediate recovery to form despite the win. The July of 2016 was incredibly tough for Rosberg. Hamilton won all four races in that month while Rosberg was demoted to once again being looked at as a number two to the Brit. The incredible month for Hamilton bore its fruits. At the end of July, Hamilton was at the top of the driver’s championship table. He had amassed 217 points whereas Rosberg managed 198.
Things started to change for good from the Belgian GP. Hamilton’s engine problems at the start of the season had come back to haunt him and it seemed unsure as to how the Brit could win the title that year. In Belgium, Mercedes made a tactical double switch, that ultimately caused Hamilton to pay a hefty grid penalty. Rosberg took pole in that tace while Hamilton finished third.
Rosberg then took the pole position at the Italian GP right after. Things were getting heated in the Mercedes camp after the two Rosberg victories, but it was not the end. The German won for the third time in a row at the Singapore GP. The race is considered to be one of his best performances in the sport to date. At the end of that one, Rosberg had taken an eight-point lead over his teammate at the top of the table.
Rosberg won yet another race at the Japan GP where he had started from pole. Hamilton’s start was slow and rather sluggish and he had to settle for third place. The gap between the two drivers was now 33 points, and only four races were left in that season. Hamilton knew that he had to perform and he had to do it fast. The Brit finally found his rhythm and won two successive races, one in the US and one in Mexico. Rosberg was still in the lead but the gap was only 19 points.
The next race was the Brazilian GP, and it was one that was marred by rain. If Rosberg had one drawback in the entire 2016 season, it was his limited ability in driving smoothly under wet conditions. It was Hamilton who kept his good run of form going and clinched pole position in that race, but Rosberg seemed content with second place. He did have the lead over his teammate with just one race to go. The points difference was now 12.
Heading into the last race of the season, all Rosberg needed to win the championship was a podium finish. Hamilton, on the other hand, could not afford to finish anywhere but in the first place. The Brit driver did exactly that as he stormed the Abu Dhabi GP and took the pole position. However, it was just not meant to be for the Brit. Rosberg was the one who came second, and that was enough. The gap between the two drivers at the end was just five points, but it was enough for Rosberg to win his first and his only F1 championship.
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