The 2016 Formula 1 season was unquestionably one of the most intense campaigns of the twenty-first century, with Mercedes teammates and arch-rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg orchestrating a series of vicious on-track battles in pursuit of the driver’s championship title.
Even minor mistakes eventually got on their nerves, resulting in extreme reactions on and off the track. One such event unfolded during the inaugural weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and it subsequently led to explosive reactions from the late Mercedes chairman and ex-world champion, Niki Lauda.
3 years on, the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg total wipeout Mercedes crash at the #SpanishGP never gets any less dramatic, does it?
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Hamilton endured a poor start to his 2016 campaign, as the Briton failed to win any of the initial five rounds Meanwhile, there was Rosberg, absolutely dominating the entire grid to win four races on the trot; the German subsequently built an enormous lead to his struggling teammate in the championship.
But, somehow, Hamilton found his groove again, inching closer to the championship leader Rosberg with victories in Monaco and Canada. Unfortunately, just as Hamilton was about to win his third consecutive race in Baku, an incident during qualifying infuriated him to the point where he destroyed his entire motorhome.
Niki Lauda denied entry to the destroyed Lewis Hamilton motorhome
The inaugural F1 qualifying in Baku witnessed Hamilton and Rosberg’s astounding display of racing prowess as the duo constantly overlapped each other throughout Q1 and Q2. But, just as the odds were lying in favor of a nail-biting finish to the afternoon, Hamilton shunted his Mercedes while attempting a potential pole-winning lap.
The Briton clipped the barrier around the inside of turn 10, causing terminal damage to the front suspension. Hence, despite having high hopes, Hamilton had to settle for P10 on the grid. Furthermore, Rosberg’s eventual pole position was like rubbing salt in the defending world champion’s wounds.
Lewis Hamilton, Bakú 2016. #BoxInThisLap #F1 pic.twitter.com/1Sf1OZE2YN
— BoxInThisLap (@BoxInThisLap) April 19, 2018
This immensely provoked Hamilton, as he shattered his entire dressing room while also denying Lauda entry into his Mercedes motorhome. “He did it because he had crashed. He’ll have to pay for that [the destroyed room]. You can count on that,” Lauda revealed during an interview according to The Sun. “He told me I couldn’t come in because he was going to destroy everything. This is how it was.”
Lauda also publicly called out Hamilton’s blatant lie about his relationship with Rosberg. But, of course, this was neither the first time nor the last time a Mercedes stakeholder opened up about the animosity between Hamilton and Rosberg and the negative atmosphere it created within the team.