Nico Rosberg Retires from Formula One
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), who last weekend became the Formula One world champion by finishing second in Abu Dhabi, announced his retirement from the sport through social media.
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"I am at the peak, the climb was very tough, so I feel that it is the right time," explained 31-year-old Rosberg, father of a young girl.
Nico - born in Wiesbaden 31 years ago - achieved his best result of second place in Singapore 2008 with Williams, the team with which he obtained another podium that season in the opening race in Australia, where he finished third at Melbourne's Albert Park.
He moved to Mercedes in 2010, the year of the return of the 'Kaiser', who had retired in 2006 after surrendering the title to Spanish driver Fernando Alonso, who won his second consecutive championship that year with Renault.
In 2012, he achieved his first victory in the Chinese Grand Prix, held in Shanghai, and in 2013, he celebrated two others: in Monaco - where he has his residence - and in Great Britain.
In 2014, he signed his first runner-up position - which he repeated last year - with five victories and ten second places in a season where the Formula One World Championship was decided in the final race in Abu Dhabi, with double points awarded for the first and only time in history.
This controversial rule was revoked, but it did not prevent him from losing the title to his teammate and great rival, British driver Lewis Hamilton. In 2015, with three races remaining, Hamilton mathematically secured the crown, while Nico won six races.
Rosberg, a polyglot who spends seasons on the Spanish island of Ibiza and speaks Spanish fluently, showed patience and did not miss his chance this time. He won the first four races of the season in Australia, Bahrain, China, and Russia, and at one point had a 43-point advantage.
Hamilton mounted a comeback and, despite Rosberg's victory in the debut race in Baku at the European Grand Prix, Nico entered the summer break 19 points behind his rival, who had won the two previous races before Baku and followed it with four more victories.
The son of Keke recovered and won the first three races after the August break in Belgium, Italy, and Singapore. He considered his third-place finish in Malaysia, where Hamilton retired, a triumph before winning the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, a race in which Mercedes celebrated their third consecutive Constructors' Championship and Nico extended his lead to 33 points.
Nico withstood Lewis' final counterattack, which was not enough for the Englishman to celebrate a fourth championship but added excitement to the third consecutive edition of the 'Mercedes Formula'.
Nico finished second behind Hamilton in Austin (USA), Mexico, and Sao Paulo (Brazil), which reduced the difference to twelve points. But that is as far as it went. And last Sunday, at the Yas Marina Circuit in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Nico secured the championship by finishing second. There are now two world champions in his family as Rosberg retired at the top.
NICO, CHAMPION BLOOD
Nico became the third German, after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, and the second son of a champion to win the F1 title, much like Englishman Damon Hill, son of two-time champion Graham Hill.
In 1996, Damon, the world champion, emulated his father Graham - winner in 1962 and 1968, and the only holder of the triple crown, as he added to his two F1 titles victories in the Indianapolis 500 (1966) and 24 Hours of Le Mans (1972) - and Nico repeated this feat, as the son of Keke Rosberg, winner of the 1982 World Championship.
Germany celebrated its third Formula One world champion after Michael Schumacher's seven titles (1994 and 1995 with Benetton, and between 2000 and 2004 with Ferrari) and Sebastian Vettel's four championships (which led Red Bull to glory between 2010 and 2013). On a day when Nico followed in his father's footsteps.
In 1982, Keke Rosberg became the first Finnish champion when he won his first F1 Grand Prix, the Swiss Grand Prix held in Dijon, France, as car races were prohibited in Switzerland at the time.
It was his only victory that year, but no one won more than two races that season. Keke was the most consistent driver and ended up winning the championship with a Williams FW08 with a Cosworth engine.
Father Rosberg added five more podiums to his career total of 17, along with five pole positions and three fastest laps.
Keke - to whom the Spanish band Siniestro Total dedicated a song - won the 1982 championship with the number 6 on his Williams, a team he stayed with for another three years. It was also where Nico started his F1 career (from 2006 to 2009). After that, in Mercedes, he chose the same number that his father had when he won the championship in 1982, starting in 2014 when the numbers became available for drivers to choose.