Nico Rosberg Brands Lewis Hamilton's Abu Dhabi GP Move 'Inappropriate' Ahead Of Ferrari Move

Saajan Jogia | Jan 4, 2025

Oct 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Lewis Hamilton (44) of Team Great Britain walks through the track entrance before the 2024 Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Lewis Hamilton's former Mercedes teammate and Sky Sports F1 presenter Nico Rosberg has called him out for wearing a red outfit during the Abu Dhabi season finale weekend, calling it a "shame." The seven-time world champion sported various colored outfits throughout the weekend and ended with a bright red outfit, which could be understood as a symbol of his move to Ferrari that took effect on January 1, 2025.

Rosberg described Hamilton's decision to wear a red outfit as "inappropriate," given that he was still a Mercedes driver at the time. While acknowledging that it was Hamilton's choice and likely accepted by Mercedes given their relationship, Rosberg said it was "strange" of Hamilton to make such a move. Stating his views on the Sky F1 podcast, he said:

“I find this decision very strange and inappropriate. It’s a shame.

“It’s his day, so it’s OK. They [Hamilton and Mercedes] celebrate and appreciate it, they still have a good relationship. But it’s a small point that I think is a shame.”

Lewis Hamilton's outfit choices this weekend... the transition from Mercedes to Ferrari is complete 🤍❤️ pic.twitter.com/b4m2Vw8pNI

— Autosport (@autosport) December 8, 2024

Rosberg also referenced Hamilton's remarks from the 2024 season, when he admitted he wasn't "fast anymore." This admission followed a season where Hamilton was out-qualified by his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, on most race weekends, while he managed to start ahead of Russell in only five races. Although Hamilton's struggles were largely attributed to the unpredictable nature of the W15 F1 car, Rosberg believes these performance concerns remain a significant worry for Hamilton. He said:

"He is at a place where he’s saying to himself, ‘I’m not fast anymore’, and that’s really singled out to qualifying.

“The problem with our sport is that if you don’t qualify high up, you really struggle, even though he still seems to be at his very, very best in race pace – we’ve seen over and over again his racing pace is just still insanely strong.

“But when you qualify poorly all the time almost, and he says himself he’s just not quick enough in qualifying, then that’s something that was weighing on the shoulders so much during the end of the year, because you know you when you get beaten from your team-mate who’s younger, and let’s remember, the team-mate is not a World Champion, the team-mate is just a four-time race winner [three, sic.].

“And when you get beaten all the time, and in the case of Lewis, who’s statistically the GOAT [greatest of all time, ed.], then that’s really tough, and especially going forward.

“Now, he has two years at Ferrari, and he will 100% be very, very worried. ‘What if this form of mine continues, like, was it just the car at Mercedes, or was it something else? And what if this form of mine continues to Ferrari?’

“If it does, it would really be quite a painful adventure, I would say, because that’s not what Ferrari hired him for.

“Ferrari hired him to be on a level with Leclerc and fight for World Championships. So I think he will be very worried about that, and we can only hope that he finds back to his good old self with a reset at Ferrari and is, once again, the brilliant driver we know.”