Rosberg's spiky response live on TV after being mocked over "not cool" nickname
Nico Rosberg demanded an apology after an F1 Junior commentator called him 'Britney', a nickname given to him by his fellow drivers during his career in the sport.
Since retiring after winning the World Championship in 2016, Rosberg has transitioned into a career as a pundit with Sky Sports. He was on duty over the weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which also saw Sky and F1 work together to create the first-ever children's broadcast of a race.
Rosberg was featured on both the children's broadcast and on the main Sky show, appearing in the commentary box during the former. There he was questioned by Junior presenters Zac, Braydon and Scarlett.
As they discussed nicknames that the drivers have, Rosberg opened up on the one he had been given during his career. It was created by former Williams team-mate Mark Webber and came from his long-flowing blonde hair, akin to Britney Spears.
He said: "Can you guess the nickname they used to give me? I had long blonde hair. They called me Britney, was that cool? That was not cool right? Once I crashed, Mark Webber drove past and he was like 'Britney's in the wall guys'. Was that cool? That was not cool."
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Not long after he shared that secret, Rosberg left the commentary box to return to his main duties. And as he departed, Scarlett gave him a cheeky goodbye comment, which led to Rosberg demanding an apology.
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Nico Rosberg was left furious after his old nickname resurfaced (Sky Sports)She said: “Good luck Britney, I hope you do well.” Rosberg responded: “No Scarlett that was not cool. I share a secret there with you guys, that was not cool at all.”
But Scarlett doubled down by saying: “Thank you Britney.” To which a visibly-annoyed Rosberg said: “Please apologise.”
Scarlett did indeed apologise, with Rosberg swiftly leaving the booth after accepting it. Lead commentator Harry Benjamin then warned Scarlett that she was "playing with fire " by calling Rosberg by his nickname.
It was a name that first came to prominence at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix when Webber was left unimpressed by Rosberg's driving. The German had driven into the back of him, breaking his front wing in the process.
That led to Rosberg losing control of his Williams and crashing out, with Webber cheekily reporting over the radio: “Britney’s in the wall.” A number of others have used the nickname on rare occasions since then.
During their time at McLaren, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton sang 'Happy Birthday Britney' to Rosberg on his birthday. Rosberg and the F1 Juniors would go on to see Max Verstappen storm to his ninth win of the season at Budapest on Sunday to extend his lead in the Championship.
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