Nico Rosberg - WikiHQ

Nico Erik Rosberg ( ; born 27 June 1985) is a German and Finnish former racing driver, entrepreneur, and broadcaster who competed under the German flag in Formula One from to . Rosberg won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes, and won 23 Grands Prix across 11 seasons.

The only child of Finnish Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg and his German wife, he was born in Wiesbaden but was raised primarily in Monaco. Rosberg began competitive kart racing at the age of six and achieved early success, winning regional and national French championships, before moving to European-based series and world championships. At the age of 16, he progressed to car racing, winning nine races to claim the 2002 Formula BMW ADAC Championship with VIVA Racing. He subsequently moved to the higher-tier Formula 3 Euro Series with Team Rosberg in 2003 and 2004 before winning the inaugural GP2 Series championship with ART Grand Prix in 2005.

Rosberg first drove in Formula One with Williams from to and achieved two podium finishes for the team in . For , he moved to Mercedes, partnering fellow German and seven-time World Drivers' Champion Michael Schumacher. Rosberg took his first career win at the . He was the teammate of former karting friend, Lewis Hamilton, from to 2016, twice finishing runner-up to his teammate, and in his final season defeating Hamilton to win the 2016 title. He and his father Keke are the second father-son pairing, after Graham and Damon Hill, that have both won World Drivers' Championships.

Rosberg announced his retirement from motor racing five days after clinching the title, citing wanting to spend more time with his family and not wanting his driving ability to atrophy as the main factors behind his decision. Overall, he started 206 Grands Prix, achieving 23 wins, 30 pole positions, 20 fastest laps and 57 podium finishes. In retirement, Rosberg moved into driver management, television punditry, and became an eco-entrepreneur. He was awarded the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year and was inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame in 2017.

Personal background and education

thumb|right|The principality of [[Monaco, where Rosberg was raised]]

Rosberg was born on 27 June 1985 at the Red Cross Hospital in Wiesbaden, West Germany, the only child of German interpreter Gesine "Sina" () and Finnish racing driver Keke Rosberg, who won the Formula One World Championship. Because his father is Finnish and his mother is German, Rosberg is a citizen of both countries, He switched to a German license as he felt it was easier to obtain major sponsorship agreements with nationality of a larger country. before living between the principality of Monaco and the Spanish island of Ibiza. He was educated at the International School of Nice and the International School of Monaco. Rosberg was encouraged to pursue ventures in academia and sports. Rosberg enjoyed studying mathematics and science, and passed all of his examinations except history. He graduated with an average grade of 1.2 in 2002.

Rosberg married interior designer Vivian Sibold at a civil ceremony in Monaco on 11 July 2014. They have two children, and run a creamery shop in Ibiza. played for the Monaco national tennis team, and formerly competed in triathlon events; these skills allowed him to save a five-year-old child from drowning in Monaco.

Karting (1991–2001)

At the age of four, Rosberg had his first driving experience when his father took him to a go-kart track in Ibiza for a holiday. He steered a Jeep, and his father controlled its speed with the accelerator and the brake pedals. Rosberg began competitive racing at the age of six and decided to aim for a career in Formula One motor racing after he observed his father competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft in 1995. His parents, who did not discourage their son's career choice, consented on the condition that he maintained good grades at school. Rosberg's competitive mindset, and his early achievements in go-karting helped him to improve his driving ability and to convince his father to manage him. Aged 12, he was the youngest champion of a French national karting series. Rosberg finished second in the French Manufacturers' Trophy and the Côte d'Azur Regional Championship in the same year. He progressed to the European karting championships for 1998 after moving from France to Italy so he could enter international events. Competing in the 100 Junior category in a CRG kart, Rosberg finished fifth at the 28° Torneo Industrie, seventh in the Andrea Margutti Trophy, and crashed out in the 1998 CIK-FIA Green Helmet Trophy. In 1999, he was runner-up in the Italian Junior Karting Championship For his first full season of car racing, he drove for VIVA Racing in the 2002 Formula BMW ADAC Championship, winning the drivers' title with nine victories from twenty races and amassing 264 points. At the time, he became the youngest person ever to drive a Formula One car.

The 2003 season saw Rosberg progress to the higher-tier Formula 3 Euro Series with Team Rosberg. Driving a Dallara F303-Opel car, he won once at the Bugatti Circuit and took five podium finishes for eighth in the Drivers' Championship with 45 points. He was second in the Rookie Cup to Christian Klien. That same month, he entered the Macau Grand Prix and the Korea Super Prix with Carlin Motorsport, finishing 11th in Korea.

Rosberg remained with Team Rosberg for the 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series. He won the season's first two races at the Hockenheimring and his campaign faltered through incidents and accidents: he took one other victory at the Nürburgring and three podium finishes. He later crashed from the lead of the Macau Grand Prix in November and was second at the Bahrain Superprix a month later. a university where several Formula One designers were educated, to study aeronautical engineering. Rosberg's father did not overturn the decision. For the inaugural GP2 Series season in 2005, Rosberg wanted to drive for BCN Competicion due to its form in the 2004 International Formula 3000 Championship. he paid around £850,000 to drive for the team.

Rosberg achieved his first series victory in the sprint race at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours and won the feature races at Silverstone Circuit and the Hockenheimring from pole position. He took the Drivers' Championship lead with a third-place finish in the feature race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps when previous leader Heikki Kovalainen took eighth. Rosberg maintained the points lead during the season-ending Bahrain International Circuit round, winning both races to claim the first GP2 Series title with 120 points.

Formula One career (2005–2016)

Williams (2005–2009)

2005

In April 2005, Rosberg was signed by Williams as its second test driver. After race driver Nick Heidfeld was injured in a bicycle accident in September, Rosberg was shortlisted by Williams as his potential replacement for the final two races, the and the . The team opted for Pizzonia because they did not want to risk delaying Rosberg's career by one to two years if he had a poor performance.

2006–2007

thumb|Rosberg at the

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One's commercial rights owner, said to Williams team principal and founder Frank Williams he thought it would be advantageous to sign Rosberg as part of a campaign to bring energetic drivers to the sport. Williams told Rosberg in October 2005 that he was assured of a role on the team as either a racer or test driver for after British American Racing's Jenson Button was released from a contract with the team. Autosport reported Rosberg signed a contract that month to race for Williams in 2006 allowing the team to provide him with as much car acclimatisation as possible. The following month, Rosberg signed a five-year contract with Williams, being selected by Frank Williams for his driving ability, his knowledge of Formula One technology, and for articulately communicating data to engineers. He was told of the news by his father in advance.

Rosberg was paid £500,000 by Williams and was the first son of a former world champion in Formula One since Damon Hill in . To prepare for the season, he achieved the highest score ever in Williams's Engineering Aptitude Test, which tests a new driver's knowledge of car mechanics and engineering aspects of Formula One, He scored points once more during the season with a seventh at the Rosberg was outpaced by his teammate Mark Webber, He finished with four points for 17th in the World Drivers' Championship (WDC). He and his father mutually agreed to stop working with each other, and began working with a sports psychologist. Rosberg's performances improved greatly from 2006 due to Williams restructuring itself and employing more experienced and capable personnel, Rosberg also gained experience in controlling his emotions without losing speed,

2008–2009

thumb|Rosberg driving in the

The 2008 season was the first in which Rosberg was the more experienced driver on his team, being partnered by Williams test driver Kazuki Nakajima. He began the season by finishing third at the , the first podium finish of his career. Rosberg was occasionally outperformed by Nakajima, and driver errors lost him chances to score more points; he was able to adapt to a ban on traction control from Formula One. He improved the best result of his career with a second at the inaugural 14 races later, and finished 13th in the WDC with 17 points. He lost five percent of his body weight to compensate for the introduction of the kinetic energy recovery systems increasing the car's minimum weight limit to . Rosberg had an improved season: the Williams FW31 was one of three cars to have an early speed advantage because it featured a double diffuser system and Rosberg led the first 15 laps of the Malaysian Grand Prix, however, the team could not sustain the car's pace of development. He finished 16 of 17 rounds; the exception was the . Rosberg was consistent in finishing in the points-paying positions, achieving a season-best result of fourth at the and the following . He scored 34.5 points for seventh in the WDC. Rosberg also talked to McLaren and Williams about potential employment; he was skeptical because Williams was mulling over whether Renault or Cosworth should be the team's engine supplier. On 29 October, he confirmed his departure from Williams at the conclusion of the season and was officially released from his contract with the team on 1 January 2010. One week later Mercedes purchased 75 percent of Brawn GP and entered Formula One under its own name, employing Rosberg to drive for the team.

Rosberg was mentored by Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn and was apprehensive when Schumacher joined the team, given the history of Brawn and Schumacher's relationship at Ferrari. He was concerned that Schumacher would dominate the team, and in early strategy meetings, found that his own strategy was being discussed with Schumacher more than with him. He felt that Schumacher was constantly acting to cause him minor stress or to assert dominance.

Rosberg finished in third place at the , the , and the . Rosberg was seventh in the WDC with 142 points. He finished no higher than fifth in the season's 19 rounds and was seventh in the WDC with 89 points. In November 2011, he signed a contract extension to remain at Mercedes until after . An important factor in Rosberg's decision was the Mercedes team undergoing a technical restructure, which saw the appointments of Bob Bell as technical director and Geoff Willis as head of technology in mid-2011. Other reasons included his belief Mercedes would be able to improve their performance and challenge for race victories.

Three-time world champion Niki Lauda began to advise Rosberg. At the , the season's third round, he took the first pole position of his career and his maiden career victory. He then challenged Red Bull's Mark Webber for the victory at the three races later before he settled for a second-place finish. Rosberg had accumulated more championship points than any other driver in the season's previous four races and emerged as an unlikely contender for the WDC. Notwithstanding this, he achieved one further top-five finish during the season. He was ninth in the WDC with 93 points. He was granted equal status by Mercedes and received no preferential treatment alongside Hamilton. During the pre-season period, Rosberg visited the Mercedes factory in Brackley, England, displaying a fascination with the F1 W04's technological development and assisting the team in the car's development.

Rosberg challenged his teammate Hamilton during the season qualifying higher eight times and finishing more often. At the , the season's second race, a minor controversy came about when Mercedes invoked team orders on him to stay behind Hamilton. Unhappy with the decision, He then won the for his third career victory after Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel suffered a broken gearbox. Thereafter, Rosberg earned points in nine of the season's ten final rounds with consecutive podium finishes— second at the and third at the . He finished sixth in the WDC with 171 points and three pole positions. Rosberg's results over the season earned him additional respect within the Formula One community. He was regarded as a favourite for the WDC because of the team's development of the F1 W05 Hybrid car and adaptation to the technical regulations mandating the use of turbo-hybrid engines in pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Rosberg won the to take the lead of the WDC and finished second in the next four races but Hamilton's four straight victories lost Rosberg the championship lead. Rosberg won the for the second year in succession to regain the points lead after qualifying on pole position in contentious circumstances. Rosberg took four consecutive podium finishes and won the to ensure the championship would be decided at the season-ending . Hamilton was already ahead of Rosberg on track and leading the race when an energy recovery system failure meant Rosberg scored no points for second in the WDC with 317 points. During the off-season he sought to correct a body deficiency, which caused him to hold his breath against g-forces in high-speed corners, since he did not want to limit the flow of oxygen to his brain and muscles.

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap; small number denotes the finishing position)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Entrant

! scope="col" | 1

! scope="col" | 2

! scope="col" | 3

! scope="col" | 4

! scope="col" | 5

! scope="col" | 6

! scope="col" | 7

! scope="col" | 8

! scope="col" | 9

! scope="col" | 10

! scope="col" | 11

! scope="col" | 12

! scope="col" | 13

! scope="col" | 14

! scope="col" | 15

! scope="col" | 16

! scope="col" | 17

! scope="col" | 18

! scope="col" | 19

! scope="col" | 20

! scope="col" | 21

! scope="col" | 22

! scope="col" | 23

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | Points

| 2005

!nowrap| ART Grand Prix

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| IMO FEA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| IMO SPR

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| CAT FEA

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| CAT SPR

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| MON FEA

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| NÜR FEA

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NÜR SPR

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| MAG FEA

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MAG SPR

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| SIL FEA

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SIL SPR

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| HOC FEA

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| HOC SPR

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| HUN FEA

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| HUN SPR

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| IST FEA

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| IST SPR

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| MNZ FEA

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| MNZ SPR

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| SPA FEA

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SPA SPR

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| BHR FEA

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| BHR SPR

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 120

!colspan="27"|