Rosberg announces retirement from racing

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG Petronas, F1

In what can be best described as a complete shocker, Nico Rosberg, 2016 Formula 1 World Drivers Champion announced his retirement from racing.

The newly crowned champ held a press conference to inform the media that he felt that after 25 years of racing, both in the junior classes and in F1, he has gotten that which he has dreamed of; that of being a champion in Formula 1. In a statement, Nico said that it took him 24 hours to come up with the decision on him retiring. 

The German was all smiles in front of the attendees, but eagle-eyed observers could smell something brewing in both Brackley and in Monaco (Rosberg’s home). While it is highly commendable that one retires after succeeding in getting his dream, others feel that the German might be skipping out on defending his title to his rivals. Whatever the reason, Nico Rosberg’s title-winning run will go down in history as notching the second father-son World Champion pairing. 

Interestingly, this frees up one very desirable Formula 1 racing seat at Mercedes for 2017.

Nico Rosberg, F1, Mercedes AMG Petronas 

Nico Rosberg elaborated: “This season, I tell you, it was so damn tough. I pushed like crazy in every area after the disappointments of the last two years; they fuelled my motivation to levels I had never experienced before. And of course that had an impact on the ones I love, too – it was a whole family effort of sacrifice, putting everything behind our target. I cannot find enough words to thank my wife Vivian; she has been incredible. She understood that this year was the big one, our opportunity to do it, and created the space for me to get full recovery between every race, looking after our daughter each night, taking over when things got tough and putting our championship first.

“The only thing that makes this decision in any way difficult for me is because I am putting my racing family into a tough situation. But Toto understood. He knew straight away that I was completely convinced and that reassured me. My proudest achievement in racing will always be to have won the world championship with this incredible team of people, the Silver Arrows.

“Now, I’m just here to enjoy the moment. There is time to savour the next weeks, to reflect on the season and to enjoy every experience that comes my way. After that, I will turn the next corner in my life and see what it has in store for me…”

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said, “It’s impossible to capture the essence of a person in a few short words. But Nico has a special combination of natural talent and fighting spirit that have brought him to where he is today. Throughout his career, people have thought he was on a golden path to success just because his father was a World Champion; in fact, I think in some ways that made the challenge greater – and meant he had to fight even harder with the weight of expectation on his shoulders.

“With Mercedes, Nico has been a relentless competitor, bouncing back from tough times in an inspirational way, and he earned the respect of the sport with his tenacity, his fighting spirit and his grace under pressure. Since 2010, he has poured competitive energy into our team and we have grown stronger because of it. We simply say ‘thank you’ for the incredible contribution he has made to our success, alongside two of the all-time great drivers, Michael and Lewis.

“For the team, this is an unexpected situation but also an exciting one. We are going into a new era of technical regulations and there is a free Mercedes cockpit for the seasons ahead. We will take the necessary time to evaluate our options and then find the right path for our future.”