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December 3, 2016

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Champ Rosberg stuns F1 with retirement bombshell

Source: Agencies | December 3, 2016, Saturday | Print Edition

NICO Rosberg stunned Formula One yesterday with the shock announcement that he was retiring only days after achieving a lifetime ambition by winning his first world championship with Mercedes.

“From the moment when the destiny of the title was in my own hands, the big pressure started and I began to think about ending my racing career if I became world champion,” the German said in a statement.

“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,” the 31-year-old added.

The driver, who had given no previous indication of his intentions, said he made the decision the day after the title race.

Rosberg, who was due to attend the governing FIA’s gala prize-giving in Vienna later yesterday along with team mate and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton, did not say what he planned to do next.

He will leave with a record of 23 wins in 206 races — putting him equal 12th on the all-time lists with Brazilian triple champion Nelson Piquet — and as only the second son of a champion to take the title. His Finnish father Keke was champion with Williams in 1982.

Nico Rosberg was also the first German driver to win the Formula One title with a German car and team, and now becomes the first champion to walk away without defending the title since Frenchman Alain Prost in 1993.

“Since 25 years in racing, it has been my dream, my ‘one thing’ to become Formula One World Champion. Through the hard work, the pain, the sacrifices, this has been my target. And now I’ve made it,” he said.

Rosberg’s battles with Hamilton, his boyhood friend and rival in karting, have lit up the last couple of seasons — and provided plenty of headlines — and he said that too had taken its toll.

“This season, I tell you, it was so damn tough,” said the man who also partnered seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in his early career at Mercedes.

“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.”

Rosberg acknowledged that his retirement had put his “racing family” in a difficult position, although Hamilton will now be an even stronger favorite to win his fourth title next season.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff hailed the “brave move” and said it was “testament to the strength of his character”.

The Austrian said Mercedes would take time to evaluate its options and it will probably need it, given that the top drivers are already signed up by rivals.

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