Nico Rosberg says he had to learn to take a more aggressive approach against team-mate Lewis Hamilton during his championship winning season last year because in the past the Briton had "walked all over him".
The pair became team-mates at Mercedes in 2013 and Hamilton emerged on top for three years, before Rosberg prevailed in 2016, when he claimed his maiden and only title, before announcing his retirement just days after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The German says he had to force himself to become more aggressive in order to defeat Hamilton, admitting he struggled to race wheel-to-wheel before changing his approach last year.
"The anger is bigger if that person you know so well does something that crosses the line. Lewis is very good at going to the edge without going outside the grey area, thanks to his skills in the car. He is smart, very, very smart. I found it harder to go wheel-to-wheel. For him, it comes naturally," Rosberg said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
"For me it is more rational. I have to work at standing my ground. I got more aggressive because too often in the past he had walked all over me."
In order to change his attitude, Rosberg studied books on philosophy and meditated and that not only made him a more aggressive driver, but helped him to manage the stress and anger which comes with being involved in an intense title fight.
"I had to watch the videos and make improvements," he added. "There was a good mind man up the road and I spoke to him. I read books on philosophy.
"You can learn from this why you are feeling jealous or angry or stressed. And if you understand it, you can address it and deal with it.
"I would spend 20 minutes each morning and evening meditating. I would sit down and just think of my thoughts, learning to relax my mind. After 20 times, your mind calms.
"When the fear crept in that I would lose the championship, you connect with the thought and have a discussion with it. Then the negative thought loses its strength."
Discussion about this post