03 January 2023 , 07:00
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Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel once teamed up to pull a prank on their compatriot Nico Rosberg which caused a stir in a Formula 1 press conference.
They are the only three F1 world champions that Germany has ever produced, with an astonishing 12 drivers' titles between them. And all of their careers overlapped, with Vettel and Rosberg young and ambitious racers during Schumacher's racing encore with Mercedes.
It was during the 2012 season, Schumacher's final as a racer, that this prank occurred. Specifically, Rosberg was targeted by the other two in a press conference ahead of that season's German Grand Prix in July at the Hockenheimring.
It began with an innocuous question from a reporter, asking about the work that drivers put in on a Friday. Rosberg was the man who answered, but it wasn't long before Vettel and Schumacher beside him were muttering to each other with mischievous grins on their faces.
They were amused because, seemingly unbeknownst to Rosberg, his volume of his microphone was turned up too high. Egged on by Schumacher, Vettel – sat closest to the other Mercedes driver – reached over to push the microphone even closer to his mouth.
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Rosberg appeared to believe he was being helped out by the Red Bull racer and continued his answer with the microphone almost pressed against his lips, meaning his answer was being projected very loudly around the room and distorted by the volume.
It was only when Vettel and Schumacher began sniggering to themselves, sparking a similar reaction from the other three drivers behind them and the journalists gathered in the room, that Rosberg realised that he had been the victim of a prank.
With a chuckle of his own, he moved the microphone back away from his mouth. But the distraction had interrupted his train of thought and Rosberg eventually gave up trying to finish his answer as the other drivers continued to laugh.
Mark Webber, seated directly behind his Red Bull team-mate Vettel, joined in with the joke as he asked sarcastically: "Did you get that?" He then leaned into his own microphone to shout: "You checked the radio volume?"
Schumacher got in on the final joke himself, as the press conference host asked if anyone else wanted to answer the original question, to try to get the session back on track. Leaning into his microphone, the seven-time world champion began by saying "One, two, three," before turning to Rosberg and saying: "Exactly, I learned!"