Nico Rosberg
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Nico Rosberg (born June 27, 1985 in Wiesbaden, Germany) is a formula one race car driver for the Williams formula one team. With dual citizenships in Germany and Finland, Rosberg has raced under both German and Finnish flags throughout his career since the formulae and Formula One have set distinct regulations when it comes to a driver's nationality. As a son of a former F1 racing champion, Rosberg was exposed to the sport at a young age and is now trying to make a name for himself.
Like most of the current crop of racers, the soft-spoken, multilingual Rosberg started his racing career with karting before moving on to lower formulas until finally landing in the same sport where his father made his mark.
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Personal Life
Nico Eric is the son of Keke Rosberg, a Finnish F1 driver who claimed the World Championship in 1982 for his team Williams who incidentally is the same team Nico is racing for at the start of his F1 career. His mother Sina is a German but the family lived in Monaco when he was growing up. He holds dual nationality from both Germany and Finland, and speaks fluently in four different languages namely German, English, Italian, and French. Interestingly, he speaks only a little Finnish, learning the language from his father. The 5-foot-10, 156 pound Rosberg was actually accepted into the engineering program (aerodynamics) at the Imperial College in London but bypassed the offer to pursue his dream of becoming a race driver.
Compared to the lower formulae where a driver races under the nationality of the country that issued the driver's license, Formula One defines the drivers' nationality based on their passport and thus, Rosberg is racing under the German flag.
Nico has a girlfriend named Vivian. Outside of racing, he enjoys jetskiing, playing football or tennis. His favorite song is Red Hot Chilli Peppers' "Dani California," his favorite musical artists are 3 Doors Down, Bryan Adams, and Alicia Keys, and his favorite food is Pasta Aglio Olio.
Career
Pre-Formula One
Junior Formulae (1996-2004)
Rosberg's career started with the usual karting route as early as nine years old, then three years later would go on and win the 1996 Regional Côte d'Azur mini-kart Championship in France. In 1997, Rosberg was triumphant in a couple of races, claiming the Trophe de France and the Trophe Jerome Bernard while finishing 2nd place at the Trophe de France des Constructeurs. A year later, he took part in an international competition, the ICA Junior, where he won a race and placed third in two more occassions in the Italien Open Championship. He continued to compete internationally in 1999 and had a runner-up finish in the Italian ICA Junior Karting Championship and placed 4th in the ICA Junior European Karting Championship. In 2000, Rosberg joined team mbm.com and competed in the Formula A Italien Open Championship, ending with a runner-up finish in the European Championship, and also claimed 1st place in the CIK race held in Braga (Portugal). He still raced for mbm.com the following year where he bagged both the Super A World Championship and the Italien Open Championship.
By 2002, Rosberg moved to single-seaters, racing in the German Formula BMW where he won the Formula BMW ADAC Championship. His impressive win was key in earning his first test for the BMW Williams Formula One team. He later on moved to the Formula three Euroseries as part of his father's team, Team Rosberg, where he bagged 8th place in the Formel 3 Euroseries and second in the Rookie Category, winning one race. A year later, in 2004, he improved to a 4th place finish with three wins and also won the Macau-Bahrain Challenge.
GP2 - ART Grand Prix (2005)
In 2005, Rosberg got his offer from the Imperial College London to attend the school's aerodynamics course but declined to pursue his motorsport dream. The gamble looked to pay off as Rosberg got his big break after the BMW Williams team signed him to be their second test driver. While regularly testing with the F1 team, he also joined the ART Grand Prix team and led the squad to the inaugural GP2 Series championship.
Formula One
Williams (2006)
Rosberg got a seat at Williams' racing team for the 2006 season. On a side note, the German recorded the highest score in the Engineering Aptitude test that is conducted by the team to all new drivers. In his Formula One debut, Rosberg became the youngest driver in F1 history to score the fastest lap after clocking in a 1:32.408 in the 42nd lap of the race. By the end of the race, he was in 7th place with 2 points, just behind teammate Mark Webber. In the second round, the F1 rookie qualified third in Malaysia but was retired after his Cosworth engine blew up after the 7th lap. He was retired again in Australia and placed only 11th in the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix before tallying another pair of points at the European Grand Prix. Those scores would eventually turn out to be his last as Rosberg would struggle the rest of the way, getting retired seven more times, both due to beginners errors and Williams failures.
In his inaugural Formula One season, he was retired in nine races, with his best rounds at Bahrain and Europe. He ended the year ranked 17th in the Drivers' Championship with 4 points, three below his teammate Webber. Although, it was a dismal season for both drivers and the team, Rosberg has earned his place in the realms of Formula One.
Williams (2007)
AT&T Williams had a little shake up for 2007 in hopes of a fresh start for the season as they brought Rosberg a new teammate in Alexander Wurz, and new Toyota Engines for their drivers. Rosberg began the season the same way he did his rookie year and that is by scoring points and placing seventh in the opener at the Australian Grand Prix. However in the ensuing races, Rosberg was outscored by teammate Wurz while all the German could muster was a three point tally he scored in Spain. Rosberg later on caught up with his teammate with scores on his 7th place finishes in Hungary and Turkey, as well as his 6th place finishes in Italy and Belgium. He was able to close the year out with an impressive performance in the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix with five points, raising his total to 20 which was good for a 9th place finish in the Drivers' Championship. Despite getting retired thrice with car problems, Rosberg still managed to outscore his teammate by 7.
Williams (2008)
After a strong showing in 2007, Williams has confirmed Rosberg's seat for the 2008 season, with his current contract running until the end of 2009. He will be paired with rookie driver Kazuki Nakajima, who retains the seat he inherited from Wurz who retired prior to the 2007 season finale.
Results and Records
Career Summary
| Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final Placing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | German Formula BMW | VIVA Racing | 20 | 5 | 9 | 264 | 1st |
| 2003 | Formula Three Euroseries | Team Rosberg | 20 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 8th |
| Macau Grand Prix | ? | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC | |
| F3 Korean Superprix | Carlin Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 11th | |
| 2004 | Formula Three Euroseries | Team Rosberg | 19 | 2 | 3 | 70 | 4th |
| Macau Grand Prix | Team Rosberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC | |
| Masters of Formula Three | Team Rosberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6th | |
| Bahrain F3 Superprix | Team Rosberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 2nd | |
| 2005 | GP2 Series | ART Grand Prix | 23 | 4 | 5 | 120 | 1st |
| 2006 | Formula One | Williams | 18 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17th |
| 2007 | Formula One | Williams | 17 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 9th |
| 2008 | Formula One | Williams |
Complete Formula One Results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Williams F1 | Williams FW28 | Cosworth CA2006 2.4 V8 4 Series | BHR 7 | MAL Ret | AUS Ret | SMR 11 | EUR 7 | ESP 11 | MON Ret | GBR 9 | CAN Ret | USA 9 | FRA 14 | GER Ret | HUN Ret | TUR Ret | ITA Ret | CHN 11 | JPN 10 | BRA Ret | 17th | 4 | |
| 2007 | AT&T Williams | Williams FW29 | Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 | AUS 7 | MAL Ret | BHR 10 | ESP 6 | MON 12 | CAN 10 | USA 16 | FRA 9 | GBR 12 | EUR Ret | HUN 7 | TUR 7 | ITA 6 | BEL 6 | JPN Ret | CHN 16 | BRA 4 | 9th | 20 | ||
| 2008 | AT&T Williams | Williams FW30 | Toyota RVX-08 2.4 V8 | AUS | MAL | BHR | ESP | TUR | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | EUR | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | CHN | BRA |
References
- New kid on the grid follows his father's formula
- Nico Rosberg: Formula 1 World Champion's Son Joins Dad's Old Team
- Nico Rosberg Wikipedia
- Nico Rosberg PlanetF1.com Profile
