F1 champion Nico Rosberg makes shock Lewis Hamilton verdict in GOAT debate

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in 2016 in Abu Dhabi — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Legends

Rosberg makes shock Hamilton verdict in GOAT debate after nearly snubbing F1 champion

Nico Rosberg has had his say on his former team-mate's legacy in the sport

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 13 September 2025 13:57

Nico Rosberg has had his say on Lewis Hamilton's career in F1, putting two former Mercedes team-mates into his top five drivers of all time.

Hamilton is the most successful driver in the history of F1, holding the all-time records for race wins, pole positions and podiums, and sharing the record for the most amount of world championships with Michael Schumacher.

Six of Hamilton's seven world titles were earned with Mercedes in a dominant spell between 2014-2020, and he spent four seasons with Rosberg as his team-mate.

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German racer Rosberg even managed to defeat Hamilton in the 2016 championship, before retiring in the aftermath of becoming world champion.

Now, following Max Verstappen's stunning victory at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend, Rosberg has revealed that the Dutchman makes it into his top five racers of all time, a list that he believes Hamilton is at the top of.

"So Max Verstappen, top five driver of all time in the history of our sport, and he keeps on showing that," Rosberg told the Sky Sports F1 show.

"My list is Hamilton, Verstappen, Senna, Fangio and that’s it right? Schumacher! Schumacher," he quickly added.

Rosberg's top five F1 drivers of all time

Three of Rosberg's list of five have raced with Mercedes before.

Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio claimed five championships between 1951-1957, with two of those coming with Mercedes in 1954 and 1955.

Schumacher - alongside Rosberg - then helped launch Mercedes 2.0 in 2010, coming out of retirement to race for the German car manufacturer, where he only managed to add one podium to his collection across three seasons.

Behind Hamilton, Schumacher sits second in the all-time lists of race wins, podiums and pole positions, but Verstappen is now not far behind on all three fronts, despite being just 27 years of age.

Verstappen is already a four-time world champion, and has 66 race victories, third in the all-time list.

The other driver on Rosberg's list was the legendary Ayrton Senna. Brazilian racer Senna won championships in 1988, 1990 and 1991, and was a qualifying master, with his 65 pole positions holding the record between 1994-2006, and he still sits third in that all-time list.

Senna's career was unfortunately cut short by a tragic incident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, but he remains an inspiration for many current drivers, including Hamilton himself.

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