By Niharika Ghorpade

Copyright sportskeeda

Lewis Hamilton reflected on his intense battles with former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg while weighing in on McLaren’s current intra-team title fight. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda in Baku ahead of the 2025 Azerbaijan GP, the Ferrari driver noted that a championship rivalry within the same garage can be a tricky scenario for any team and its drivers.Between 2014 and 2016, Hamilton fought Rosberg for the championship, eventually losing the 2016 crown to the German. He also recalled experiencing a similar dynamic with Fernando Alonso in 2007. Since Rosberg’s retirement, it is the first time Formula 1 has seen a genuine title rivalry between teammates, this time between McLaren’s drivers. Unlike Mercedes in the past, McLaren has faced criticism from both fans and insiders for occasionally intervening from the pit wall to control their drivers’ on-track battles, with many feeling it denies fans the chance to enjoy a pure championship duel.Lewis Hamilton stressed that teammates should have the freedom to race each other hard, provided there is no contact. While admitting he hasn’t followed the McLaren situation closely due to his own commitments, the seven-time world champion acknowledged it must feel ‘uncomfortable’ for the drivers when the team steps in to manage the fight.Asked by Sportskeeda to weigh in on the McLaren driver situation on the track, having experienced a battle with a teammate himself, Hamilton said:“I mean, I’ve been in that position and it’s not. It’s not a comfortable position.. I can’t really comment on how theirs is going because I’m not really been watching. I’ve been focussing what we’ve been doing. So yeah, I think you just want to want to be able to race as soon as you can with whoever it is that’s out there. It’s as long as you take to come together.”Nico Rosberg explained the Mercedes team rules when he battled Lewis Hamilton in 2016While McLaren faced backlash for instructing Oscar Piastri to let Lando Norris through in Monza, Nico Rosberg defended the team’s decision as a tricky scenario. Norris had lost track position to his teammate after a slow pit stop, prompting the team to call for a swap to maximise their race result.The 2016 world champion compared the situation to his Mercedes days, saying the Silver Arrows had their own equivalent of McLaren’s so-called “papaya rules.” At Mercedes, he explained, “silver rules” made it clear that if the team risked losing a race to a rival, the faster driver would be prioritised. Rosberg recalled a moment in 2016 when Daniel Ricciardo was a threat, and Lewis Hamilton was allowed to pass because he had the pace to secure victory.He also pointed to the controversial 2016 Abu Dhabi finale, where Hamilton ignored team orders and deliberately backed the field into his rivals to improve his chances of winning the championship. Rosberg admitted that while Hamilton had pushed the boundaries, he was within his rights, given the circumstances of a title decider. Reflecting on McLaren’s case, Rosberg felt the Monza call was complicated and would always divide opinion, noting it is difficult to judge fairness in hindsight once the outcome is known.Discussing the McLaren intra-team battle and swap on Sky Sports F1’s podcast, Rosberg said:“We had very clear silver rules, not papaya rules, silver rules. If we risk losing the race win to a competitor, we need to work together as a team to secure the race win. Monaco Grand Prix 2016, I’m racing against Lewis for the championship. I’m second, he is third, and Ricciardo is disappearing in the distance because I’m too slow. There’s a threat that we as a team are losing the race win. It’s clear. “So the team comes on the radio and tells me: ‘You need to let Lewis pass because we might lose the race win here otherwise.’ So I moved over and waved him past because it was clearly defined and, of course, it’s hard in the moment, but it’s then clear and easy to understand and you just got to do it.”Reflecting upon the 2016 season finale and his battle with Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi, Rosberg said:“Lewis didn’t do it in Abu Dhabi, which was the same situation, but also that is understandable that you wouldn’t then. If you’re an assassin, you want to try and maximise the grey areas. But it all depends how clearly it’s written down in the rules, but you cannot write something like that down in the rules because pitstop times are always a part of racing and the team cannot ensure that everybody’s always going to have the same pitstop times. It’s just like, at which point is it really unfair? It’s really hard.”The 2016 championship battle between Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg went down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, with Rosberg ultimately emerging victorious. Several flashpoints, including the infamous clash at the Spanish Grand Prix and the enforcement of team orders, marked that season. In the aftermath, both drivers were called in by the late Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff, who laid out clear rules of engagement to manage the rivalry.With intra-team battles and their complications deeply rooted in F1’s history, McLaren appears to be taking a more cautious approach. By striving to treat both drivers fairly, much of their strategy and on-track action is increasingly being dictated by the pit wall.