Nico Rosberg has revealed that his third defeat in the F1 championship at the hands of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2015 was the most "painful" but also a transformative loss.
Rosberg and Hamilton became teammates at the Brackley squad in 2013 following the Briton's move from McLaren to Mercedes.
That year, a dominate Sebastian Vettel conquered his fourth world title, with Hamilton finishing fourth in the championship, outscoring Rosberg by 18 points although the German had put two wins under his belt compared to one victory for his teammate.
But the advent of the hybrid era in F1 in 2014 put Mercedes in a league of its own, with Hamilton securing his second world crown thanks to 11 wins, while Rosberg was left 67 points behind.
Hamilton repeated the feat in 2015. Despite a run of three consecutive wins in the final races of the season, Rosberg was once again left in his teammate's dust, 59 points behind.
It was a defeat with which the German struggled at the time, but ultimately one that would boost his motivation.
"At the time it was like, ‘he’s probably too nice to be World Champion against the ruthless Lewis,'" Rosberg explained in an interview with The Times Magazine.
"I lost to Lewis three years in a row. And it was so painful, the last time. I locked myself in a hotel room, and I reminded myself to push, push, push like hell. It just enhanced my motivation, my focus."
Against a backdrop of acrimonious rivalry at Mercedes, Rosberg stuck to his word and pulled out all the stops to finally deal a blow to Hamilton, at the season finale in Abu Dhabi where he secured the title by just five points.
"It went to the wire, to the last corner," he recalled. "It couldn’t have been more intense.
"And winning against Lewis, in the same car, after having struggled against him, it was just so perfect."
The curtain closed that day on the rivalry in F1 between Hamilton and Rosberg following the latter's decision to call it a day on his career in F1, but the two drivers renewed a matchup of sorts as the owners of their respective teams in the adventurous Extreme E electric off-road series.
"I’m happy that he’s also joined this path. It’s so cool because we have, by coincidence, the two best teams and we’re [against] each other," said Rosberg.
"At the moment, I’m leading. We won both of the first races, but it’s so early in the championship. You [can] measure at the end of the year."
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