Lewis Hamilton earned nearly all of his Formula 1 world championships while driving for Mercedes during their dominant period at the beginning of the hybrid era.
Between 2014 and 2016 Mercedes had the power unit, chassis and driver combination to beat. Only two drivers who could win races: Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
The battle between two former karting rivals was intense and featured two significant collisions at Spa Francorchamps and the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
Martin Brundle questions if Lewis Hamilton was looking for a way out at Mercedes
Rumours swirled around the F1 paddock that Hamilton was dissatisfied with the situation and was even alluding to Mercedes not providing him with equal equipment to Rosberg.
Sky Sports reported that Hamilton told the team he didn’t want to drive again following the first-lap crash with Rosberg, after the Briton was angered by Mercedes’ refusal to accept that his teammate had been at fault for the collision.
Hamilton felt Rosberg was at fault for the crash because he made a late move to defend his lead, while Mercedes thought it was a racing incident.
To give a bit of context to the title fight at the time, Hamilton had already suffered two engine failures in qualifying and was 43 points behind Rosberg in the points table. The decision not to support him in his accusations against Rosberg was born out of not wanting to take a side in what was certain to be a two-horse race.
Hamilton called it a “massive low for me” when speaking to media (via Motorsport.com), before adding: “There’s things you won’t know until I retire that I tell you that I experienced. The next day, I got up and I went for a run, and I’m thinking about lots of different things and it’s crazy to think that the 43-point deficit that I had at the time, which seemed impossible [to close].”
Mercedes make last-minute changes to post-race test
In the days after their Spanish GP collision, there were indications that something was afoot at Mercedes.
Teams stayed after the race weekend for a two-day test, with Mercedes electing to run Rosberg and their development driver Esteban Ocon. But at 8pm on the evening before the test, their plans changed, with Manor driver and Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein being chosen to drive instead.
It was awkward for Mercedes, as F1’s rules stated that teams must use a driver with fewer than three Grands Prix starts to their name, and Wehrlein’s call-up ruled out Hamilton for the next test at Silverstone.
Mercedes claimed they needed an experienced driver to test new development parts, but it prompted speculation that Mercedes was readying Wehrlein if Hamilton refused to race at the following round in Monaco.
Brundle would later ask Hamilton about the circumstances surrounding comments he allegedly made after the race in Spain: “After the crash in Spain there was a story you said ‘I’m going to stop, I’m going to give up’. Is there any truth to that?”
Hamilton replied without any explicit denial: “That is all private stuff that is in the past.”
Lewis Hamilton wins more races but ultimately loses 2016 title
The saga went on in the days leading up to the Monaco race, with Mercedes issuing a denial of the story on social media.
It wasn’t until everyone saw Hamilton in the car for FP1 that it was certain, but it generated a lot of unwanted attention to the defending world champions when tensions had already boiled over on track.
A re-energised Hamilton used the opportunity to bounce back and take victories in six of the next seven races and lead the championship by 19 points.
Rosberg won the three after the summer break, then in Malaysia Hamilton would be delivered the final hammer blow to his title chances with an engine failure.
Even by winning all four of the final races, Rosberg’s consistency enabled him to triumph over Hamilton. It was only the second time in Hamilton’s career that he was beaten by a teammate, and it would be the last time both drivers shared the track as Rosberg announced his shock retirement in the days after the final race in Abu Dhabi.