Son of another historical signature of motoring such as that of the Finnish Keke, Nico Rosberg was born in Germany on June 27, 1985, assuming German nationality, just like that of his mother. Graduating GP2 champion in 2005, his success threw open the doors of the top racing series for him the following year, making his debut at the wheel of Williams, the same team with which his father imposed himself on the top of the world in 1982. Stayed at Grove until to 2009 – winning the first two podiums in the 2008 season – Rosberg junior then moved to Mercedes, returning to Formula 1 after 55 years of absence, in 2010.
Chosen as teammate of Michael Schumacher – who in turn returned to racing after retiring in 2006 – the German won his first race in 2012 at the Chinese Grand Prix, celebrating on the podium with his friend Lewis Hamilton. Both, in fact, had shared their first steps in motorsport with karts, forging a strong bond that lasted until F1. With Schumacher’s second and final retirement, and especially with the advent of the new turbo-hybrid era in 2014, the Englishman was chosen by Mercedes as the new driver of the German team, thus joining Rosberg from 2013. However, the one who it seemed the definitive consecration of their friendship, it was actually the beginning of long and repeated conflicts.
With Mercedes, which immediately proved to be the team to beat, The Hammer he immediately won two world titles in 2014 and 2015, with Rosberg having to settle for the role of vice-champion. Still, at the start of the season 2016, the then 31-year-old son of art completely reversed the situation, further accentuating the already strong internal rivalry with the increasingly former British friend. In fact, in the first four races of the year, the German won four wins, thus leaping to the top of the world championship. The most critical point of tension in the Mercedes house was consumed in the first lap of Spanish GP, where the two drivers were involved in a sensational crash at the start that knocked out both of them, allowing Max Verstappen to win his first career success. From that moment on Rosberg won another five GPs, but at the same time Hamilton recovered the scene, taking a total of nine wins before the last race on the calendar, scheduled for Abu Dhabi.
However, thanks to the Englishman’s retirement in Malaysia due to the breakdown of his power unit, the last challenge in the United Arab Emirates presented himself with a ranking situation still favorable to number 6, leading with 367 points, twelve more than in those of Hamilton. The November 27, 2016, therefore, the night of Yas Marina proposed the grand finale of the world championship of that year, with Rosberg in the conditions of being able to really win the first world title of his career. The weekend, on the other hand, immediately saw the domination of the British rival, who won pole position right in front of the German. During the race, the then reigning champion showed no sign of abating, commanding the race from the green light to the checkered flag and trying today to slow down the direct rival to make him lose decisive points. Rosberg, however, kept the second position with intelligence, maintaining a placement on the podium sufficient to be able to be crowned champion in the event of Hamilton’s success.
The Englishman won the 21st and last stage of the 2016 world championship but, with the second place of his team-mate, Nico Rosberg officially graduated World Champion. Furthermore, the German became the second driver in history to join his father in the Formula 1 roll of honor, exactly as Damon Hill did twenty years earlier with his late father Graham. The joy of success continued for the four days following the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi, only to be ‘interrupted’ by sensational news: Rosberg, unexpectedly, announced the withdrawal from F1.
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