30/11/2014
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton says that the end of the 2014 season in Abu Dhabi marked the end of hostilities with former karting buddy.
Though they have been close friends since their teens, all that went out the window once it was clear they had a serious chance of taking the title. The first slight cracks in their long friendship that might appeared in 2013 became a yawning chasm as the 2014 title fight got serious.
Incidents on both side of the garage left the relationship badly damaged, a situation not helped by an eager press only too happy to fan the flames of hostility.
However, a week after the season finale which saw Hamilton lift his second title, the Briton claims that with the pressure off the two can rediscover their previous relationship and get it back on track.
"We had a filming day the other day and all that tension disappears," said Hamilton, according to the BBC, during Saturday's Stars and Cars celebration event in Mercedes-Benz' home town of Stuttgart. "It goes back to being two normal individuals talking about the normal things guys talk about.
"You saw Nico come over after the (Abu Dhabi) race and that underlined the respect we have for each other," he added, "and even though we had difficult times through the year we came out strong.
"I wouldn't change it for the world," he insisted. "Even though there were low moments, I came out stronger in the end so I'm glad things worked out the way they did."
"There are things I would do differently; that's natural," admitted Rosberg. "But regrets? No, because it's often in difficult experiences you grow the most and learn the most. All in all it's been a great year. The end result didn't go the way I wanted but now, taking a step back, it has been such an awesome experience."
Asked if having learned from this year's mistakes he will come back stronger in 2015, Rosberg said: "It's an awesome challenge. Lewis's level is extremely high. This year he was the best driver and I look forward to that battle next year."
At which point that rediscovered friendship will be put to the ultimate test once again.
Check out our Stars and Cars gallery, here.