Nico Rosberg spoke in the past about the mind games which he alleged Michael Schumacher to have deployed against him at Mercedes.

Those “stories” have now been addressed by Michael’s brother, Ralf Schumacher, who, while giving credit to Rosberg’s 2016 World Championship win, accused his fellow German of “mind games” being his modus operandi.

Ralf: Nico Rosberg ‘still tells stories’ about Michael Schumacher

When Mercedes entered its works team into Formula 1 from 2010, it was Nico Rosberg, and the returning seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, who formed the first driver line-up.

The duo spent three seasons together as Mercedes teammates, Rosberg outscoring Schumacher in all of them.

Schumacher, not the force that he once was, retired for a second and final time after the 2012 season.

Rosberg previously called Michael Schumacher “Mr. Mind Games”, an F1 icon who Rosberg alleged “from the morning to the evening was just trying to get into my head”.

He recalled Schumacher keeping him out of the toilet with minutes to go before qualifying, as an example.

Rosberg said that Schumacher had a “warrior extreme” approach, one to show him that he was regarded as no threat at all. Such methods were not “natural” for Rosberg, he said, but were of huge benefit when Lewis Hamilton arrived as Schumacher’s replacement.

Rosberg later beat Hamilton to the 2016 title, and announced his immediate retirement from Formula 1 soon after.

In a Sport1 interview, Ralf claimed that Rosberg is all about “mind games” to this day.

Ralf had compared new World Champion Lando Norris with Rosberg. He said he was “particularly pleased that someone who acknowledges his weaknesses” like Norris – known to be very self-critical at times – “has become World Champion”.

But, claiming that this “took a lot of strength on his part”, Ralf expressed doubt that Norris could challenge the achievements of seven-time champions Michael Schumacher and Hamilton, or four-time champion Max Verstappen, as he suspects “it takes too much energy for him”.

“There are drivers who don’t find this natural – like Nico Rosberg,” Ralf added.

Within Ralf’s comparison of Norris and Rosberg, was a blunt response to Rosberg’s talk of “mind games” from Michael, as part of the comments he has made about his F1 career since retiring.

Ralf insisted that Rosberg “should have just put his foot down” at the time.

“He stopped immediately afterwards,” Ralf continued, speaking of Rosberg. “He himself said that he was shaking before the last start. To be honest, I was nervous, yes, but I never shook. That shows how much strength it takes.

“Everyone ticks differently. The fact that Nico is saying this so openly today is to his credit. It’s not my view of things, but then I didn’t become World Champion either. He became World Champion against a seven-time champion. That’s quite an achievement.

“Nevertheless, you can see how he ticks – even today. It’s always about mind games with him.

“He still tells stories about my brother – about alleged mind games in toilets or car parks. I know Michael. He was at a completely different point in his career.

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“Ultimately, Nico should have just put his foot down. If he’s behind a 40-year-old in Monaco, that says it all.”

Both Ralf and Rosberg remain involved with Formula 1 following their racing days as pundits.

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