The 2010s were wild in F1; from the loud engines and grid girls to the rise of Sebastian Vettel, Formula One had a lot to remember. But there was one thing F1 fans remember more than anything: the rise and fall of Brocedes. Brocedes was not just an idea or thought, but a long-standing friendship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Yet it came crumbling down all too suddenly.
Rosberg and Hamilton come from very different backgrounds. Rosberg was born in Germany and now lives in Monaco, while Hamilton was born and raised in England. Rosberg grew up wealthy, as his dad, Keke Rosberg, had a Formula One career himself, while Hamilton grew up less fortunate, with his dad working multiple jobs. They became friends almost instantly due to their childhood rivalry in karting. They were joined at the hip during race weekend and were always intensely competitive, with former F1 driver and competitor Robert Kubica saying, “They would even have races to eat pizza, always eating two at a time.”
Their friendship strengthened even more when getting a seat for Mercedes Benz McLaren in Formula A, where Hamilton eventually won the title, with Rosberg following in second place.
Although they raced together in karting, Hamilton and Rosberg got to Formula One at separate times, Rosberg in 2006 with Williams and Hamilton in 2007 with McLaren. How their careers panned out early on was also completely different. Hamilton finished second in the 2007 Formula One Championship while Rosberg finished ninth. In the following year, Hamilton finished first in the 2008 F1 Championship, while Rosberg finished 13th. From 2009 to 2012, Hamilton stayed with McLaren and never finished below fifth in the standings. Rosberg, on the other hand, who moved to Mercedes in 2010, finished at least ninth in the standings between that time. Both continued to be very good friends throughout that time, but that would all change.
In 2013, Hamilton moved to Mercedes, and everyone thought it would be like old times with them on the same team. But instead, the opposite happened.
In 2014, Hamilton and Rosberg had much success, with Hamilton finishing first in the championship with 11 wins and 16 podiums and Rosberg finishing second with five wins and 15 podiums. That season, the tension burst open, when in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Rosberg used the Mercedes banned engine mode to give himself a power advantage over Hamilton. Then, two races later, Hamilton used the same banned engine mode to keep Rosberg at bay in the closing laps of the race. Two weeks after that in Monaco, Rosberg caused a yellow flag after securing first in qualifying to deny Hamilton of a final lap. After finishing second in the race, Hamilton proclaimed that he and Rosberg were no longer friends. The tension of being rivals had officially broken their bond. A couple more scuffles throughout the season confirmed that the pair were no longer friends.
The 2015 season was more of the same as Hamilton placed first and Rosberg placed second at the Australian Grand Prix. At Malaysia for round two, Rosberg again took a somewhat dirty tactic by obstructing Hamilton of the racing line during his final qualifying lap, but it did not matter as Hamilton secured pole position. However, this season was not that close. Hamilton took the championship with three races left, and Rosberg took second with a 50-point gap to third place Sebastian Vettel.
However, in 2016, things changed drastically as Rosberg won the season’s first four races, building a 43-point gap to Hamilton. Everything was looking up for Rosberg until race four: the Spanish Grand Prix. On the opening lap, Rosberg’s car entered the wrong engine mode due to an issue on the formational lap causing Hamilton to be faster than him coming out of lap three. When Hamilton went to overtake, Rosberg sent him onto the grass causing Hamilton to lose control and crash, sending both out of the race. On Rosberg’s YouTube channel, you can watch his video which he edited on “How to Master the Spanish GP” on F1 2020 where in the first 20 seconds he makes a “funny” reference to the 2016 crash with Hamilton.
Four races later in Austria, Hamilton was catching up to Rosberg in the final laps, when a mistake by Rosberg set up Hamilton for an outside line overtake on the German. But as Hamilton went in for the turn, Rosberg kept going causing both to collide. Rosberg, who was leading the race, fell to fourth place and Hamilton took the win. Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, was furious after the race and called them into a meeting for the incident saying that if this does not stop happening, he would have to use team orders to keep them at bay.
Heading into the final race, all Rosberg needed was second place to secure the championship at Abu Dhabi. With Hamilton in first place and Rosberg in second with a couple laps to go, it all but secured Rosberg the championship. Rosberg later recalled during the final race of the 2016 season, he had so much anxiety that all his stomach could handle were Frosties, the same cereal he and Hamilton ate when they were karting. Just five days after securing his dream by winning his first ever championship, he called it quits and retired. When asked about his long-time friend and teammate retiring, Hamilton said “the sport will miss him, and I wish him the best.” And just like that, the rivalry was over.
Hamilton went on to win four consecutive championships, tying him with Michael Schumacher for most wins of all time with seven. Rosberg went on to become an analyst for Sky Sports F1. Since Rosberg retired, he and Hamilton have rekindled their friendship, with Rosberg defending Hamilton during some rough patches the past couple of seasons. Rosberg even came out and said that every Christmas, Hamilton sends his kids a box full of gifts. They say time heals wounds and there is a perfect example of this in the “Silver Wars.”