Friends, teammates, childhood buddies, and rivals. Everything but a lover.
How would you feel if someone described your relationship with your former teammate like this?
The story of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, nicknamed “brocedes” by fans, began when they were just 13. The pair met at a karting race. They were two boys from very different worlds: Nico was the son of a former world champion, and Lewis was a kid from a modest background who was destined for greatness. From that moment, they became inseparable, racing side by side, sharing dreams of becoming world champions, and imagining a future as teammates.
While the dream of being teammates became a reality, it also destroyed their friendship. In 2013, Nico and Lewis became teammates for the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1, full of excitement and anticipation. This excitement and anticipation began to fade in 2014, with Lewis winning his 2nd championship and the team’s first championship.
Now, to the breaking point of their relationship, which occurred during the 2016 season. In Monaco, Nico won the race, and Lewis felt cheated out of the win the previous day, with Nico crashing at the last second in the qualifying round. The final nail to the coffin came in Spain in 2016, when Lewis crashed into Nico while trying to overtake him. The crash led both drivers to avoid each other for a full year, which forced the chairman of their team to lock them in Ibiza to figure out their relationship.
Nico Rosberg won the championship in 2016, but winning the championship proved detrimental to his well-being; the only food he could eat for weeks was Frosties, a favorite cereal of the two friends. During his post-race interview, his tone and words betrayed a bittersweet liberation from losing to his best friend for years. After his championship win, Nico retired from the sport. Yet their connection lingers in subtle ways, with rumors that Lewis’s dog is named after Nico, that Lewis sends Christmas presents to Nico’s children, and that they had lived in the same apartment until this month.
However, in Hungary 2021, where he was working as a commentator, the second commentator would describe him and Lewis as friends, teammates, childhood buddies, and rivals — everything but lovers.
“Brocedes” is Formula 1 lore that can never be created by any other teammates on the Formula 1 grid, and it is a reminder that not every friendship can resist the pressure of competition.