While the relationship between the two former team-mates has eased somewhat over time, Rosberg explained their tension was partly a by-product of being locked together at the front for so long.

Rosberg and Hamilton fought to the last in Abu Dhabi in 2016, the German eventually coming out on top under pressure to win the title before promptly retiring from Formula 1.

There were several on-track tussles and collisions between the pair during that time, including a first-lap crash in Barcelona that took both drivers out, along with tagging wheels on multiple occasions and an increasingly fractious atmosphere between them in private and public. The once-friendly relationship between the two descended into animosity when they were driving dominant Mercedes machinery from 2014 onwards, with the two drivers in an exclusive battle with each other for three consecutive seasons. Nico Rosberg says the deterioration of his relationship with Lewis Hamilton was a “build-up” over time, rather than one flashpoint in their numerous on-track battles at the start of the turbo hybrid era.

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