Nico Rosberg recalls “horrible” Mercedes team order which helped Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg was reminded of a Mercedes team order which aided Lewis Hamilton, when discussing McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’.

F1 team orders have come under the microscope due to McLaren’s refusal to prioritise either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, despite being in contention for the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

Norris and Piastri’s tussle at Monza arguably contributed to opening the door for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to win the Italian Grand Prix.

Natalie Pinkham was referring to McLaren’s drivers on the Sky Sports F1 podcast but she delivered a reminder to Rosberg which he might have preferred to forget.

“You don't want to see your team-mate win a world championship in a car that you knew you could potentially have won it in, as well,” she said.

“I mean, that's got to be the worst…”

Rosberg, of course, was the Mercedes teammate of Hamilton who won the F1 championship in 2014 and 2015 as they drove identical machinery.

“It’s the most horrible thing,” Rosberg replied.

“In my championship year I was in a direct fight with Lewis Hamilton.

“I was running second in Monaco in the rain. Daniel Ricciardo was disappearing into the distance.

“Our team rules meant I would have let Lewis by, in that moment. I actually let Lewis past, on team orders. My direct championship rival!

“That’s horrible. In the car, it’s horrible. Definitely not fun.”

Rosberg was told that complying with team orders must go against the instinct of any racing driver.

“And everything the team has promised you, also, when they brought you on,” he replied.

Thankfully for Rosberg, he conquered Formula 1 in 2016 while still a Mercedes teammate of Hamilton’s.

The Monaco Grand Prix that Rosberg was referring to eventually resulted in a victory for Hamilton.

At the time, Toto Wolff said about the order for Rosberg to let Hamilton through: "For any driver it is very difficult to accept such a situation so we looked at it for a number of laps and hoped for the tyre to switch on.

“We debated it for quite a long time but it was clear there was a problem in the [Rosberg] car - it was almost like we had a damaged car.

“To understand the situation was great team play from Nico. Not once did he question it."

Rosberg would have the final say in 2016, becoming F1 champion before retiring on a high.