Lewis Hamilton wanted to kill F1 rival Nico Rosberg – but now his only target is to prove he is the greatest driver on the planet
Britain's world champion insists the Mercedes team-mates get in a room and talk through problems 'even if we don't like it'
LEWIS HAMILTON has admitted that he and bitter rival Nico Rosberg once wanted to KILL each other.
But now Hamilton just wants to retain his title fair and square — without the meddling of team orders from Mercedes.
The pair’s feud hit a new low in Austria last weekend when race leader Rosberg crashed into team-mate Hamilton as he tried to pass him on the last lap.
Hamilton still went on to win the race — but furious boss Toto Wolff branded the incident “brainless”.
Brit Hamilton, 31, said: “I want to win because I am the best. Full stop.
“I don’t want it to be because I’ve had better engines or luck, I want it to be because I have outdriven the other guy.
“Regarding intelligence and mechanics, I don’t feel I get the credit I’m due.
“I hear people saying Nico is more technical, that my ability is my sheer will and passion in wanting to win.
“Nico and I do talk about things, we don’t walk away from each other.
“We get in a room — and even if we don’t like it — we say what our issue is and deal with it.
“We’ve never had that before. Before he wanted to kill me and I wanted to kill him. So that’s why I say we are in the best place now. It’s not that we are best friends.
“We have ups and downs — that was definitely our down — the last race in Austria.
“We have plans of discussing it. We will move forward, it’s important as men we take responsibility for our actions.”
To add to Hamilton’s worries, he was left furious after Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda’s “damaging” accusation that he trashed his dressing room in Baku.
Hamilton was left reeling after Lauda’s comments that the racer had “destroyed” his room in Baku after the European GP and “lied” about his friendship with Rosberg.
Lauda later backtracked but Hamilton revealed he fired off an angry email to the Austrian Formula One legend.
He said: “I was sitting on the beach soaking up the sun enjoying my day, thinking ‘I’ve just won a Grand Prix.’
“I felt amazing and then saw that had come out . . .
“I read about it and didn’t fully understand what was going on.
“I sent an email to Niki and said, ‘What’s this?’ because I didn’t understand where it had come from.
“The team did a good job to address it — but unfortunately the damage was already done.
“It was all on my social media, Twitter and Facebook, people have read that stuff.
“People see that and they think it is true — that I have lost my s***.
“Having come off the win, it turned a positive into a negative. People say, ‘Don’t worry it’s what racing drivers do’ — but ultimately it was a little bit damaging.”
Hamilton goes into this weekend as favourite to win the British Grand Prix and close Rosberg’s 11-point lead in the drivers’ championship.
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He has won his home race three times and says it would be a privilege to get No 4 — to equal British F1 hero Nigel Mansell.
Hamilton added: “I’m not really thinking about taking the lead in the championship, I’m thinking about winning the race.
“It’s amazing the journey that I’ve had here with the fans, who have grown with me since 2007.
“That feeling can never, ever get old.
“I’m massively proud to be up alongside the great Nigel. It would be an incredible honour.”