Class war as Hamilton says spoilt Nico ‘complains a lot’

CLASS warfare broke out in the Mercedes team yesterday when Lewis Hamilton accused Nico Rosberg of ‘complaining a lot’ because of his privileged upbringing. The world champion’s comment came 24 hours after his boss Toto Wolff said he wanted ‘nice guys’ in the team and warned that one or both drivers could be sacked if the breakdown in their relationship continued to damage morale. Hamilton said: ‘You’ve seen he (Rosberg) complains about a lot of things. But you let it go over your head because that’s just the way he is. It’s kind of the different backgrounds we come from, I guess.’ Hamilton spent part of his childhood on a council estate in Stevenage with his father, who took on three jobs to fund his early career, whereas Rosberg grew up in Monaco, the son of multi-millionaire 1982 Formula One world champion, Keke. It is the second time Hamilton has questioned his team-mate’s wealthy beginnings. Last year he said because Rosberg grew up with ‘jets and hotels and boats…the hunger is different’. Although the drivers were friends as young karters, the temperature between them has cooled as they have fought one another for the title. Despite his criticism, Hamilton, who has beaten Rosberg to the F1 title for two consecutive seasons, told the BBC that the rivalry has been ‘blown out all proportion’. He added: ‘Our relationship hasn’t caused us any problems. It’s not like he’s been distracted. We’ve both done a great job. ‘The energy is really high in the team. We’ll never be best friends but we make it work. There are tense moments but it’s the same in any sport. ‘You can’t be nice out there and go, “Hey, here’s some space”. I mean business. I’m not here to make friends, to finish the race and say, “Hey, that was a lovely race, chap, you were so friendly with me, you let me win”. ‘You take the one opportunity you get. That doesn’t mean cheating.’