“Nico Rosberg used all the tools to beat Lewis Hamilton,” Heikki Kovalainen explains how difficult it was to compete with the Briton

“Nico Rosberg used all the tools to beat Lewis Hamilton,” Heikki Kovalainen explains how difficult it was to compete with the Briton

Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen

Lewis Hamilton has been the F1 world champion seven times in his fifteen-year-long career so far. And it’s clear that his determination and competitiveness have been a challenge not only for the grid but also for his teammates over the years, as testified by his McLaren ex-teammate Heikki Kovalainen.

Heikki was Lewis’ teammate for two years at McLaren in 2008 and 2009 and was completely overshadowed by Hamilton’s first championship title in 2008. After leaving McLaren in 2009, Heikki drove for Lotus and Caterham and last raced in 2013 in F1.

Kovalainen, while talking with talkSPORT, admitted, “Occasionally I could match him but, over the full season, I had to stretch every session to match him. You can only do so much stretching, and then you run out of energy, and that was the case with me. I didn’t have enough margin in my capacity to do the times and the races that he did, so it was not easy.”

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Having Lewis Hamilton as a teammate is exhausting

Lewis Hamilton

Heikki further praised Lewis for his tremendous energy. He said, “His level of performance is so high that, even for super talents like Max [Verstappen], it requires a lot of effort, a lot of focus, a lot of energy, so it’s not going to be easy – not everyone can handle that, it’s as simple as that.”

The ex-teammate also spoke about Lewis Hamilton’s other ex-teammate and 2016 world champion, Nico Rosberg. He commented on Lewis’ ability to fight for long. Kovalainen spoke about the 2016 fight for the title between the Mercedes teammates, “I think Rosberg had to use all the tools from his toolbox to be able to beat Lewis, and that nearly killed him. He said it himself, he couldn’t have done another season like that, or he’d be dead.”

It isn’t hidden from anyone how competitive Lewis Hamilton is. It’s his will and energy that have brought him this far in the sport, making him one of the best drivers of the sport.

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