SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Hamilton works as hard as Rosberg

Lewis Hamilton works just as hard for success as his teammate Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton works just as hard for success as his teammate Nico Rosberg.

That is the claim of Mercedes technical boss Geoff Willis, just days after F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone declared that the reigning world champion's extravagant lifestyle is spinning out of control.

"Thanks to Facebook or Twitter, he lets everyone think that he is a playboy. But between the races he trains just as intensely as Nico," Willis told Germany's Auto Bild.

Indeed, some might have surmised that, given Hamilton's lifestyle excesses and his increasing dominance of F1, the sport is not as challenging as it once was, at least physically.

But Willis said: "Lewis works hard to be as good as he is."

In contrast, teammate Rosberg is newly married and now also a proud new father, with his wife Viviane revealing the name of baby Alaia on Twitter.

But the Rosberg family and Hamilton actually live in the same Monaco apartment building.

"No, not at all," the German told Welt newspaper in Singapore when asked if he shares personal time with his neighbour.

"We have no personal contact. Our lives are too different.

"The will to succeed and our ambition to be the best is too strong now, but I believe there is no alternative. I understand that and I think Lewis does too," Rosberg explained.

(GMM)