World champion says he'd never felt emotions in a race car like when he overtook 2016 nemesis Verstappen for second place; "Brave" pass praised by Red Bull's Christian Horner
Monday 28 November 2016 17:16, UK
New Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg has admitted his overtake on Max Verstappen in the Abu Dhabi GP produced the most "intense" emotions he has felt inside a racing car.
F1's new world champion faced what his race engineer told him was a "critical" moment in his race on Sunday when he needed to pass Verstappen immediately once it became clear to Mercedes the Red Bull driver was attempting a one-stop strategy.
Picture special: Rosberg's Sunday night celebrations
With a reputation as one of the hardest drivers on the grid to overtake, Verstappen had already proved Rosberg's nemesis on several occasions this year with the Dutchman overtaking the German as recently as the previous race at a rain-hit Interlagos.
Rosberg admitted the context of Sunday's nail-biting title decider therefore made his razor-sharp lap-20 overtake of Verstappen all the more special.
"Tony [Ross, Rosberg's race engineer] saying it's critical we pass Verstappen for the championship…holy moly, seriously!" said an emotionally-drained Rosberg on Sunday night. "But it worked out.
"The feelings that I had in the battle and right after when I realised that I passed him, I've never had that in a race car before ever in my life."
At the German GP in July, Rosberg was handed a five-second time penalty by race stewards for a pass on Verstappen after they deemed he had run the Dutchman out of road at the hairpin.
Rosberg admits Duel in the Desert was 'horrendous'
In Abu Dhabi, the pair fought down both of the circuit's consecutive long straights but avoided contact as Rosberg came out ahead to reclaim second place behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Despite the Briton's best attempts to back him into Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen in the closing laps, Rosberg hung on to the position to claim his maiden title.
"Fair play to him, also," said Rosberg of Verstappen. "He went full-on aggressive of course, he didn't given an inch, as usual but fair play, we didn't collide and I got by, so that felt amazingly good.
"It was an awesome feeling at the time, really, very relieving and so intense, unbelievably intense really, in the car."
Mercedes chief Paddy Lowe has previously praised the new champion's improved record in wheel-to-wheel battles with rivals this year and Rosberg himself admitted in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night he had honed the type of "one-on-one" skills that are a recognised strength of Hamilton's
Red Bull chief Christian Horner praised the assertive nature of the German's move on his driver Verstappen.
"I think Nico was brave on the move he made on Max and it looked like he decided to get on with it at that point," said Horner.
"We know Max isn't the easiest person in the paddock to overtake. For me that was a deciding moment in Nico's race."
Don't miss the F1 Report's review of the Abu Dhabi GP and analysis of how the world title was won. David Croft and Marc Priestley join Natalie Pinkham at 8.30pm on Wednesday on Sky Sports F1.
