Nico Rosberg says Michael Schumacher never even acknowledged him during their time at Mercedes

During their time together at Mercedes from 2010 to 2012, Nico Rosberg has claimed that Michael Schumacher largely ignored him throughout their stint as teammates.

The pair arrived at Mercedes in 2010 – Rosberg coming from Williams and Schumacher returning from retirement – following the team’s transition from Brawn. Expectations were high for what they could achieve together.

Rosberg was still an emerging talent back then, eager to make his mark in a more competitive car. But he said that all eyes were on Schumacher, and how inside Mercedes, his legendary status meant he barely acknowledged Rosberg’s presence.

Michael Schumacher lacked recognition toward Nico Rosberg

Throughout their three seasons together, Rosberg had the edge over Schumacher. He picked up five podiums and a win in China in 2012, while Schumacher managed just one podium before calling time on his career. In fact, Rosberg outperformed him in each season they shared the garage.

Despite this, Rosberg doesn’t believe that Schumacher would regret coming back to the sport. But he did admit that his teammate was no match for him, even with all the psychological tactics he tried to use during their time together.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, Rosberg remembered how high a standing Schumacher had within Mercedes. He also pointed out that his fellow German refused to acknowledge him or show any respect.

“But remember this guy is like God,” he said. “Like, he walked into a room, and the engineers stopped working whenever he walked into a room. Everybody, their mouths went open, ‘Michael Schumacher.’ It’s like it’s literally this guy’s God. I mean, greatest race car driver we’ve ever seen.

“In three years of being teammates, he did not mention my name once, in three years of sitting across the table in engineering meetings. I did not exist.

“I did not exist because mentioning my name would be showing respect, but me not existing was pushing me, ‘The little guy there who, we don’t even know his name.’

“That was his mental warship. He never once asked, ‘What did Nico do there?’ Not once, not a single time.”