According to Nico Rosberg, Mercedes’ disappointing performance at Monza caused him to be very negative and therefore lash out at Max Verstappen’s record ten consecutive F1 victories.
“Toto Wolff was not too happy with his team’s performance with fifth and sixth place,” said Nico Rosberg. Finishing fifth and sixth, well behind Ferrari and Red Bull, is not really the goal. So I think he was a bit down and his answer was a bit harsher than intended, it wasn’t as respectful as he would normally be.”
“After all, the correct answer would have been: ‘Hats off and all respect to Max and Red Bull for this achievement.'”
According to Nico Rosberg, records are indeed important for F1 drivers and F1 teams, even though Max Verstappen qualified the importance of his record.
“We all care about records, we think about records a lot,” said Rosberg. “Even Max says: ‘No, I don’t care that I won 10 races in a row.’ But what does he do when he gets out of the car?”
“He puts both hands in the air and shows ten fingers, a reference to ten victories in a row. All that just before he says that winning ten races in a row is not important to him.”
“Even Max thinks records are important,” concludes Rosberg.