Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg announced his retirement Friday via his Facebook page, bringing his career to a close just days after winning his first world championship.
Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg retires 5 days after winning title
The 31-year-old steps away just days after winning his first championship.
Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images
Rosberg felt that the championship served as a natural culmination to his career, saying, “I have climbed the mountain [and] I am on the peak, so this feels right.” The 31-year-old’s retirement comes much earlier than most other drivers, but Rosberg has decided to step aside now that he has achieved what he called his “one thing” of becoming Formula One’s World Champion.
The German Rosberg, a second-generation racer and son of 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg, raced 11 seasons on the F1 circuit, debuting with Williams in 2006 before joining Mercedes in 2010. He finishes his career up with 23 wins, 57 podiums, 30 pole positions, and 20 fastest laps in 206 career Grands Prix.
Rosberg locked up what will now be his only World Championship after a thrilling, contentious season finale in last Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in which Rosberg fought off a challenge from teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton even defied team orders, deliberately slowing up in an effort to force Rosberg to let the cars behind Rosberg catch and pass him so that Rosberg would finish behind Hamilton in the final points standings. Hamilton won the race, but Rosberg held onto second place and thus earned enough points to clinch the championship.
Rosberg mentioned in his retirement announcement that he had the possibility of retirement in mind on the morning of Sunday’s race. “On Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi, I knew that it could be my last race and that feeling cleared my head before the start. I wanted to enjoy every part of the experience, knowing it might be the last time … and then the lights went out and I had the most intense 55 laps of my life.”
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