5 Most Memorable Lewis Hamilton v Nico Rosberg Moments in F1

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were the best of friends before their battles for the F1 driver's title drove a wedge between them. The pair came through the lower Formulae at the same time, even being teammates in karting. Rosberg debuted in Formula 1 in 2006, with Hamilton joining the following year and they would become teammates once again in 2013 at Mercedes.

Their first year together was a healthy partnership, but once the Silver Arrows became the dominant force in the sport in 2014, flare-ups became the norm. Culturally, the two are polar opposites, Hamilton from a council estate in Stevenage, while Rosberg hails from Germany but grew up in Monaco thanks to his world championship winning father, Keke Rosberg.

Since Rosberg's retirement in 2016, Sebastian Vettel v Hamilton has been the main rivalry, but for the most part, it's lacked the venom that this one had. Here's the five moments from Nico v Lewis that will live longest in our memories.

#5 - Belgium 2014 Crash

Hamilton and Rosberg first made contact as teammates in Belgium in 2014.

Rosberg qualified on pole for the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix, but had lost his advantage off the line thanks to a poor start. Nico was raring to get his P1 back from Hamilton and had a great run going up Kemmel on the second lap. Lewis didn't want to give up his position so easily, and made it as hard as he could for his teammate to get by. Hamilton moved to the inside and held his line through the Les Combes complex. Rosberg couldn't get enough grip through his tyres to overtake and clipped his rear wing on Lewis' rear-left wheel. Hamilton had a puncture and Rosberg had a damaged wing, disaster for Mercedes.

Damage to Hamilton's floor caused his retirement later in the race, while Rosberg did a good job to limit his points losses by finishing in second place. Nico was booed on the podium and likely received a stern talking to from Toto Wolff, as the Mercedes boss labelled the incident as "unacceptable" after the conclusion of the race. This was their first crash as teammates, but far from their last.

#4 - Austria 2016 Crash

Hamilton and Rosberg clashed once more two years later in Spielberg

I can sense a theme developing here...

Hamilton and Rosberg clashed a lot on-track and 2016 had two very notable incidents, this being one of them. After a poor weekend in Baku, Lewis trailed Nico by 24 points heading to the Red Bull Ring. Hamilton had claimed pole and looked as though he was going to claw back some serious points after Rosberg had a grid penalty and lined up sixth.

Lewis was in a great position to claim his first win in Austria, but a poor pit-stop and a mistake out on track handed the German the advantage. The pair had no real threat from behind and Hamilton was fired up, this would've been a poor race to lose. The Brit was on the faster tyres and had already broken the lap record closing up to his teammate. Going onto the final lap, Rosberg took too much curb going into Turn 1, which handed Hamilton a chance to overtake on the run to T2.

Hamilton went to the outside, expecting to get the racing line going down to the third corner, but that didn't happen. Rosberg kept his steering wheel straight, and Hamilton drove into him, Lewis had nowhere else to go. Nico lost his front wing as a result, and Lewis brought home his damaged car to win the race. Instant karma at work, this was 100% Rosberg's fault. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen overtook the German on the final lap, Nico finishing P4 in the end even after his penalty. People with good memories will also recall that this was when Toto Wolff angrily slammed that now famous table, he was fuming after this clash.

#3 - A Gust of Wind and Capgate

It wasn't all smiles post-race.

The story of the 2015 United States Grand Prix is one that would take far too long to tell in this article, but here's the summary of events before the incident took place:

Lewis Hamilton had dominated the season, and would've won the driver's world championship had he won and Sebastian Vettel finished third or lower. Both Hamilton and Rosberg led the topsy turvy Grand Prix, but going into the latter stages, Rosberg held the advantage. With three rounds still remaining, it would've been far from a disaster if Hamilton didn't win the title in Austin, but the Brit was handed a lifeline thanks to the elements.

On a damp track and in the wake of a hurricane, Rosberg's Silver Arrow was hit by a "gust of wind" and slid wide, handing his teammate the lead. Nico tried his best to make up for his error, but Lewis saw the chequered flag first to win his second driver's championship in a row.

In the post-race cooldown room, Hamilton passed Rosberg his second place cap, which made Nico angrily throw it back at the world champion. Lewis didn't respond, it could've easily escalated and ruined his special day had he done so, but this incident has gone down in history as "capgate".

#2 - Duel in the Desert

Rosberg and Hamilton's battle in Bahrain has been one of the best in recent times.

It's easy to focus on the negative incidents between Hamilton and Rosberg, but the pair have had some incredible battles that haven't ended in crashes. The first of these was probably the best and just five years on, is already iconic. The W05 was the class of the field in 2014, being three seconds a lap faster than the chasing pack when it was unleashed during the race.

Lewis Hamilton had led the Grand Prix from Nico Rosberg and it seemed as though Mercedes were going to cruise to another 1-2 finish. However, a crash between Pastor Maldonado and Esteban Gutierrez threw the cat amongst the pigeons and closed the pack up behind Safety Car. Lewis still had the lead at the restart, but he was on slower tyres than Nico, which gave Rosberg the perfect chance to challenge for P1. Rosberg dived inside and outside in a number of manoeuvres, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't overtake Hamilton. It's a truly epic battle by anybody's standards and Nico has since said that this was his toughest battle in F1:

#1 - Spain 2016 Crash

Both Mercedes retired due to this controversial crash.

There isn't much that's divided opinion more in the hybird era than this incident.

After winning back-to-back titles in 2014 and '15, the 2016 season wasn't going to plan for defending world champion, Lewis Hamilton. Nico Rosberg had won all of the opening four rounds and led his British teammate by 43 points going into the European season. Realistically, even at this early stage of the season, Hamilton had to win, and he put himself in the best position to do so during qualifying, claiming pole by nearly three tenths of a second. However, when Sunday came, Lewis got off to a poor start, falling behind Rosberg on the long run into Turn 1.

Overtaking at the Circuit de Catalunya is usually at a premium, but when Nico selected an incorrect engine mode going through the long Turn 3, Hamilton had a chance to pass. Lewis moved towards the inside line, but Rosberg went to block, Hamilton though, had too much momentum to back out and ran onto the grass. With the braking zone looming, Hamilton lost control and crashed into the side of Rosberg, taking them both out of the race.

Unsurprisingly, both drivers blamed each other, and the incident divided the Formula 1 fanbase. Some say that Hamilton should've backed out, others think that Rosberg should've left more space, but we'll let you make your own mind up:

What is your favourite Hamilton-Rosberg moment? Let us know in the comments below!