Recently retired Nico Rosberg says he would have brought in Fernando Alonso to replace him at the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, as it would have been great entertainment to see the Spaniard go up against Lewis Hamilton.
Following his retirement from F1 after winning the world championship last year, the German jokingly said that he would have enjoyed seeing the sparks fly if Hamilton and Alonso were team-mates again, when commenting in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca recently.
“OK, because I’m now a fan, and on that side of the fence, it’s very easy to respond.
“Everyone says Alonso and I say it too, because there would be fireworks with Hamilton [he laughs].”
From a serious point of view though, the German feels that Mercedes have made the right choice in choosing Valtteri Bottas, who he sees as a strong competitor.
“As a fan, it would be nice, but for the team, it wouldn’t work. They have found a great solution.
“Bottas is fast and though Hamilton will be at a very, very high level and it will be difficult to beat him, I have proved that he can.”
Before the interview was up, Rosberg could not resist getting in one last quip, that he was tipping the Finn to out-do his old team-mate at the first round of the season.
“I have him on pole in the first race in Australia!”
The German also explained the current situation with Mercedes Team Boss Niki Lauda, who was reportedly unhappy with Rosberg’s short notice to the team when advising of his retirement, with the Austrian said to be angry with the 31-year-old.
“Angry? No, they [Mercedes] have a lot of respect for me and I appreciate it.
“With Lauda it has been more complicated and though he seems angry in the press, with me he isn’t.
“He told me in person that he took off his hat to me. He’s been very supportive after three very good years working together.”
