Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg's Duel in the Desert: The press conference
Lewis and Nico on the decider, 2016 ups and downs, and their rivalry
Monday 28 November 2016 11:25, UK
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are poised to take centre stage in Sunday's Abu Dhabi GP and on Thursday the title contenders were absolutely the centre of attention in a 'championship special' press conference.
After passing up on the option of a symbolic pre-weekend handshake in front of the world's media, the Mercedes drivers fielded an array of questions in the 25-minute conference ranging from their gameplans for the crucial race and the development of their rivalry since their teenage years.
Partly tense, partly jovial, but thoroughly fascinating, read on for a selection of Rosberg and Hamilton's answers…
We'll start with you Nico. How are the nerves? Compared to the 2014 Championship showdown are you feeling more confident this time?
Nico Rosberg: "It definitely helps to have been there, done that, y'know? This is the third time that we're fighting for the Championship and the second time that it's gone to the wire so for sure that helps to feel more relaxed."
Hamilton 'proud' of Rosberg's season
It's been quite a year for both of you obviously. Which race of Lewis' most impressed you so far?
NR: "Wow, that's a bit of a question. I'll need a bit more time to get into that because I don't know really, I'm not thinking back. Of course, he's done a great season, there's been a lot of great races that Lewis has done, for sure. He's been a great competitor, tough opponent as always, as was to be expected also. Yeah, but for me it's just a focus on this weekend."
Same question to you Lewis. Which race of Nico's this season has most impressed you?
Lewis Hamilton: "I haven't seen any of his races, so…"
Well, the performance, in other words, on any particular weekend.
LH: "I can't really remember. Same as him. He was quick in lots of different places. I don't think there's one that particular stands out."
OK. We were just talking with Kimi Räikkönen, his 2007 Championship very unlikely given you and Alonso were leading going into that race. Another unlikely one was here in 2010, where Vettel was the least fancied going into that weekend and he came out as the World Champion. Do you take confidence from those two turnaround events, so say that anything is possible in this scenario?
LH: "Not really 'cos, I mean… it doesn't really make any difference to this weekend."
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
To Nico. Can you say that you won't get involved in any dodgy driving or with it all on the line is it no-holds barred in this last race?
NR: "Again, it's none of what you just said. It's going to be a weekend like any other where I'm going to go for the race win and do what it takes to get that. And that's it."
So whatever's needed to do it, is it?
NR: "Within the limits of what's acceptable of course."
To both of you, Lewis has obviously had worse reliability this year out of the two of you and would be leading on points even if Malaysia hadn't happened. Nico, how would you feel about the perception that that's facilitated your championship win if that's the way it happens. And Lewis, how do you feel about that too.
NR: "Of course I'm aware of how the season has gone for both of us but those thoughts… first of all the season isn't even finished. We still have one race to go so it would be premature to get into any such discussions but anyways, such thoughts, I don't have them at the moment, in any way because for me it's about concentrating on myself this weekend.
"I'm excited because it's the last race, fighting for the Championship again with Lewis and yeah, so I'm just really focussed, trying to get the job done. I really would like to win this race and finish the season with a win. That would be awesome."
LH: "Well, I mean… I don't know. For me it's… as I said, it's been a challenging season in terms of having the ups and downs that I've had but I think that I've really managed to strengthen. In terms of turning negatives into positives, this year has been a real challenge in terms of strengthening that tool and being able to do so. So I'm really proud of what I have achieved. There have been moments where in the year where… 43 points behind, thought it was impossible to come back but somehow turned it around.
"I've been 33 points behind and almost turned it around. So, I think this year has generally shown that, for me… continued to show me that anything's possible if you put your mind to it. I'll keep the facing the races that are coming with that mentality."
Lewis, Nico, could each you just briefly talk about your relationship developing during these three years of fighting for the championship against each other, please?
LH: "Yeah, it's been an interesting one. We obviously had a very good relationship generally when we started out, when we were kids. Back then a race weekend was generally... for kids karting it's... you're out having fun. You go out and drive and you come in and you fool around, you give a bit of information to your mechanic and you go and play Playstation or you go unicycling. We had a lot in common.
"We both love pizza, we loved eating boxes of Kellogg's Frosties and doing all the crazy things and we go out on big motorbike tours. We did all those things. I still do everyone of those but Nico has shifted in the sense that he's very very solely focused in terms of looking after himself. And obviously we went quite different ways when we were young: he went BMW, I went Renault.
"But then we got to Formula 1 and this was something that we had spoken about as kids and yeah, we obviously had ups and downs but ultimately I think we've managed to - particularly in the last year and at the age we are - which is pretty old, considering when we first met - I think we've been able to manage it pretty well and I'm really happy for him and his family and proud of stepping away from being our competitive selves, proud of him of how he's driven, particularly this year obviously and generally it's been a pleasure having him as a team-mate."
NR: "The thing is that we still have from back in those days is the base respect and that will never go and that has definitely helped us through these years. For sure, I have a lot of respect for Lewis outside of the car and also inside the car. As I've said, we've had some difficult moments but also some good ones over the past years and this year, generally, I think we've made progress and so yeah, it's generally neutral but of course it is a difficult environment."
