Nico Rosberg issues threat to Max Verstappen after being banned from team garage

07 September 2023 , 15:36

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F1 fans have noticed a pattern whenever Nico Rosberg takes a selfie (Image: Getty Images)

Nico Rosberg joked that he might have to make Max Verstappen the next victim of his 'curse' as the Dutchman's extraordinary winning streak continues.

The Red Bull racer got the better of pole-sitter Carlos Sainz to win the Italian Grand Prix last Sunday. It marked a record 10th consecutive race victory – the longest in Formula 1 history.

Many in the Monza crowd were dreaming of a famous Ferrari success but, despite the best efforts of Sainz and Charles Leclerc, the Red Bulls were just too powerful to resist.

While the performance gap is the main reason for the Scuderia's failure to win from pole, a strange social media phenomenon involving Rosberg might also have played a part.

The German has a habit of taking pre-race selfies and posting them on his Instagram account. But F1 fans have noticed that, when he snaps himself in front of a car or garage, the driver who fills it usually suffers some misfortune in the Grand Prix.

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The most recent example came at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton was on pole. Rosberg took a photo in front of his former Mercedes team-mate's garage, for the seven-time world champion to then drop from first to fourth on the opening lap of the race.

At Monza, he avoided picking a specific garage and instead took his selfie so that there was a generic view of the track and pit lane behind him. But he captioned the image: "Forza Ferrari," leading fans to blame him for 'cursing' the Italian team.

While Rosberg insists he doesn't intentionally try to pick a specific driver or team, he joked that he should perhaps take a selfie in front of the unstoppable Verstappen's garage next time. "This is the curse thing, I even tried this weekend to do a neutral background, because I thought, 'I don't want to cause any problems here'," he said.

"[I wrote] Forza Ferrari because the whole weekend is about that and all of us are wishing for Ferrari to win. That would be a bit aggressive if I then take a picture with Max [Verstappen] before a race, that would not be cool, I think. But I'll do it anyway!"

The latest example of Rosberg's 'cursing' comes after McLaren took no chances at the Belgian Grand Prix. Having seen what had happened to Hamilton the previous weekend in Budapest, the team taped a sign which read: "No Rosberg selfies," to the front of its garage, writing on social media: "We've seen your jinxing powers, @NicoRosberg."

Daniel Moxon