Wolff: Merc duo almost like enemies

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s relationship has suffered badly this season and they are now “like enemies”…

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admits Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s relationship has suffered badly this season and they are now “like enemies”.

Having come through the karting ranks together, Hamilton and Rosberg have always maintained they are good friends on and off the track, but that has been tested this season.

They have been involved in several incidents as they go head-to-head for the Drivers’ Championship and Wolff admits the rivalry has gone up a notch or two in recent months.

“It has changed from, let’s say, an almost amicable relationship at the beginning of the season to a very intense moment, where it was almost like realising these two are enemies competing for the World title,” he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

He added: “It’s also a learning process. These boys have been calibrated their whole life that their main priority is to win the Drivers’ Championship in F1. And here they go – they are in the same car, competing against each other for that trophy and one is going to win and one is going to fail.

“This is a new experience for them – a difficult experience maybe.”