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Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said the only thing he can remember from his duel with then-Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg at the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix was that he won.
Hamilton was speaking in a video posted to title sponsor and fuel partner Petronas' YouTube channel. Reminiscing about some of the highlights of his career with Mercedes, he said:
“Bahrain 2014. The first year with the hybrid engines. Me and Nico, a long way in the distance. We had a big advantage that year and it was just between me and Nico.”
“All I remember is that I won. That’s all that matters.”
With the arrival of new technical regulations for 2014, Mercedes emerged as the dominant team, with a healthy performance margin over the rest of the grid.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, driving for Mercedes, won 16 out of the 19 events in their bid for the driver’s title. Daniel Ricciardo won the other three races for Red Bull.
The most intense battle for the championship, however, came early on in the season, in the third race at the Bahrain International Circuit. Heading into the Grand Prix, both Rosberg and Hamilton each had a race win to their name. In qualifying, Rosberg pipped Hamilton to pole, but Hamilton took the race lead at lights out.
For the rest of the race, both drivers pushed hard to win the race for themselves, pulling away from the rest of the field. After exchanging places in the pit-stop phases and several overtakes on track, Hamilton finally emerged as the victor, going on to win the championship.
Meanwhile, the race was the first time the Mercedes garage was divided into two camps and foreshadowed the infamous rivalry about to emerge between Hamilton and Rosberg.
Nico Rosberg hopes Lewis Hamilton doesn’t choose retirement
Former Mercedes teammate-turned-rival Nico Rosberg hopes Lewis Hamilton returns to the sport in 2022 and continues to fight for championships.
In an interview with Sky Sports F1, the former F1 world champion, who was Hamilton’s childhood friend, said:
“It was heart-breaking for him (Lewis Hamilton), absolutely, because up until four laps from the end he was almost certain to be World Champion. Then with this change of procedure or whatever you want to call it, suddenly he lost the World Championship. So, it was tough, extremely tough.
"But of course, I do count on him being back on the grid next year and fighting to get back that World Championship that kind of got taken away from him in a way.”
Following the 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had hinted that a “disillusioned” Lewis Hamilton might not return to the sport in 2022, during an interview with Sky.
