Nico Rosberg has admitted to being surprised when he met Russia’s controversial president Vladimir Putin after the race in Sochi.
As the drivers prepared for the podium ceremony, Putin and his translator spoke separately with Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and race winner Rosberg.
"He congratulated me," Rosberg said, "but I was a little surprised that he did not speak German with me.
"He can actually speak German quite well, right?" the Mercedes driver told Bild newspaper.
Indeed, the report claims Putin spent five years working as a KGB agent in Dresden, and still regularly reads German-language newspapers.