Nico Rosberg

German to Finnish former Formula 1 racing driver

A title won, then a farewell

Nico Rosberg climbed from Williams to Mercedes, beat Lewis Hamilton to the 2016 championship and retired from racing within days of winning it.

Nico Rosberg was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, on June 27, 1985, and holds German and Finnish nationality, racing in Formula 1 under the German flag. His father is the 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg. He started karting at six, won the 2002 Formula BMW ADAC title at 16, raced in the Formula 3 Euro Series, and in 2005 won the first GP2 Series championship with ART Grand Prix.

Williams brought him into Formula 1 at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, and he spent four seasons there, taking two podiums in 2008. For 2010 he joined the new Mercedes works team as the partner of Michael Schumacher. His first victory came at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix.

From 2013 his teammate was Lewis Hamilton, a friend from their karting years. As Mercedes took control of the sport, Rosberg won five races in 2014 and six in 2015, finishing second to Hamilton both times. In 2016 he won nine races and took the title at the final round, the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. With Keke he became only the second father and son to have both won the championship, after Graham and Damon Hill.

Five days after clinching the title, Rosberg announced his retirement. Our record shows 206 starts, 23 wins, 30 pole positions, 20 fastest laps and 57 podiums across 11 seasons, with Williams and Mercedes. Since leaving the cockpit he has worked in driver management and as a television pundit, and he was inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame in 2017.

1 world titles, 23 wins, 30 pole positions, 206 starts.

Teams

Victories

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