Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 11, 2015

Nico Rosberg vows to stop Lewis Hamilton for the Briton’s maiden Brazilian GP title

Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg has vowed to put up a good fight at the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix to stop teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was unsuccessful in all his eight previous appearances at Interlagos. Rosberg will try his best to defend his title in this weekend’s penultimate race of the 2015 Formula One (F1) season.
The German is up for the fight with Hamilton, who is bidding to win his maiden at the home race of his late childhood icon and fellow three-time world champion Ayrton Senna, Euro Sport reported.
According to Rosberg, he wants to be back on top of the podium this year at Interlagos.
“With all due respect to his (Hamilton) ambitions,” Rosberg was quoted as saying. “I want to win there as well.”
Although the British F1 star has already clinched his third world title last month and after Mercedes successfully retained their F1 World Championship Constructors’ crown in Austin, the race at Interlagos will be all about the winner on that day. Rosberg said he is looking to continue his form after emerging victorious at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Rosberg recalled last year’s battle with Hamilton and said it was a “great feeling” to win in front of loving Brazilian F1 fans, who were rooting for him. He added that he is ready to take a good fight to win again and experience the amazing feeling on top of the podium.
Meanwhile, Hamilton had reportedly pulled out of an event in Sao Paulo as he was feeling under the weather, fueling speculations by various Brazilian news outlets that the British F1 world champion will skip the race. A spokesman for Mercedes told Motorsport that Hamilton will still race this weekend. He had to cancel an earlier flight, which made him miss a press conference, as advised by his doctors.

WATCH: What's next in the Lewis Hamilton v Nico Rosberg saga?

For much of 2015 the in-house battle at Mercedes may have simmered, rather than boiled over, more than it did in 2014, but recent weeks have shown that the Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg rivalry remains as fierce as ever.
From the first-corner banging of wheels at the start in Austin, to the cap throwing incident after the race, and then Hamilton's gentle barbs after Rosberg's return to winning ways in Mexico, the final flyaways of the season have certainly been eventful at the head of the field.
Next up it's Brazil - a race which itself is famed for drama - so what will Interlagos have in store at Mercedes this weekend?

Thứ Ba, 15 tháng 9, 2015

Lewis Hamilton wary of Nico Rosberg world title recovery under lights in Singapore

Lewis Hamilton is backing Nico Rosberg to mount a strong recovery in Singapore this weekend after he was forced to retire at the Italian Grand Prix.

Hamilton appears set to retain the world title after winning in Monza last time out to open up a 53-point advantage over his Mercedes companion.
Hamilton enjoyed a seventh victory of the season after Rosberg's engine blew up in the final stages of the race in Italy.
He is well placed to become the first British driver to defend the world title, and will be over the line even if he finishes second in the closing seven races of the season.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton celebrates his win on the podium with the trophy and Nico Rosberg (L)
But the British icon is refusing to take a third world title for granted as he prepares for a fierce response from his German team-mate under the lights in Singapore.
"Monza was an awesome weekend for me - one of the best I've had in Formula One," said Hamilton.
"The car this team has built is just incredible and I can't thank them enough for all their hard work.
"Of course, it was a shame for Nico and the crew to have the retirement - but I know he'll bounce back and I'm looking forward to another battle in Singapore."
"I've won there twice now - both times from pole - which shows you how important qualifying is too."
Rosberg is refusing to abandon his hopes of the world championship, and said: "Obviously, Monza didn't go to plan and it was gutting to miss out on a good result so close to the end, but now I approach the final seven races with the attitude that there's nothing to lose.
"It's maximum attack and I won't be giving up the fight, no way.
"Singapore is one of my favourite races, so that's a good place to start.
"I know I've got the pace to win there, so I'm hoping for a clean weekend and a chance to unleash this silver beast under the lights."

Nico Rosberg vows "I've got nothing to lose" in Lewis Hamilton title scrap ahead of Singapore Grand Prix

Rosberg still believes that he can challenge the world title despite falling 53 points behind Hamilton following the Italian Grand Prix.

Title challenge: Rosberg is set to continue his title challenge in Singapore
Nico Rosberg admitted “I’ve got nothing to lose” as he vowed to go all out to rescue his fading title hopes in Sunday’s Singapore night race.
The German slipped 53 points behind his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton when his engine failed twice at the last round in Monza.
While Hamilton’s seventh victory in 12 races means he does not need not need to triumph again this year to become champion.
For Rosberg, though, things are getting desperate.
“Obviously, Monza didn't go to plan,” he said.
Last time out - Italian Grand Prix in pictures:
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton leads
“It was gutting to miss out on a good result so close to the end but now I approach the final seven races with the attitude that there's nothing to lose.
“It's maximum attack and I won't be giving up the fight, no way. Singapore is one of my favourite races, so that's a good place to start.
“It's so tough on everyone - physically and mentally - and I love that challenge.
“I was only a few thousandths off pole last year and feeling good for the race until a problem with the steering wheel ended my weekend.
Lewis Hamilton on the podium
Pressure: Rosberg wants to ramp up the pressure on Hamilton
"I know I've got the pace to win there, so I'm hoping for a clean weekend and a chance to unleash this silver beast under the lights.”
While Rosberg has not won one since the Austrian GP in June and desperately needs to get back on the victory trail jet-setting Hamilton has won three of the last four rounds.
“Monza was an awesome weekend for me - one of the best I've had in Formula One,” said the world champion.
“The car this team has built is just incredible and I can't thank them enough for all their hard work.
Incredible: Rosberg is delighted with the speed of his car
“Of course, it was a shame for Nico and the crew to have the retirement - but I know he'll bounce back and I'm looking forward to another battle in Singapore.
“This race is always a highlight of the season - a great city which looks really spectacular under the lights with the tricky street circuit below - my favourite kind of track to drive.
“You've got to stay 100% focused for a full two hours, which is tougher than it sounds with the crazy humidity.
“Any small slip and you're in the barrier, so maintaining that total concentration is crucial.
“I've won there twice now - both times from pole, which shows you how important qualifying is too. It won't be easy to make it three - far from it.
“But I'm riding high right now and I'll be pushing for that hat-trick.”
The popular night race is back to back with the next round in Japan seven days later but the tiny principality is suffering from near critical levels of smog caused by man-made forest fires to clear oil palm forests of nearby Indonesia.

Thứ Tư, 2 tháng 9, 2015

GT Academy graduate Jann Mardenborough secures GP2 seat

FOUR years ago, 23 year old Brit Jann Mardenborough had never raced a car in his life. This weekend though, he will be taking the seat behind a GP2 car, often the last step before a driver makes their way into Formula 1.
Jann’s story is one of the craziest stories in the history of the sporting world, where he has turned from a gamer into potentially being the next big F1 star.
In 2011, he entered the Nissan GT Academy, a program run by Nissan and PlayStation that helps find the next big racing driver through the driving simulator game Gran Turismo.
He has been the posterboy for the program in recent years, where he initially raced in GT3 and GT4 cars for Nissan.
After winning races and reaching the podium at famous tracks like Spa, Nissan’ Darren Cox, global motorsport director, realised he had tapped into the talent of a potentially great race driver.
It wasn’t long before Jann secured a drive in the FIA European Formula Three championship with the Carlin team, often the first step drivers take outside out karting and Formula Ford to progress into Formula 1. That same Carlin team previously had Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo driving their cars.
His first ever open-wheel racing season didn’t result in any race wins or podiums, but the experience earned him a test drive with Arden International in the European GP3 series, one of the feeder series for Formula 1. Daniel Ricciardo’s 21-year-old Red Bull teammate Daniil Kvyat went straight from GP3 to his seat with Red Bull.
Jann got his first GP3 win in Germany last year.
Jann got his first GP3 win in Germany last year. Source: Supplied
After successfully testing, he was not only offered a full-time driving position that year but also attracted the attention of the Red Bull racing team, who offered him a position in their driver development program. This involved access to their F1 simulator, often regarded as the best in the world, and mentoring from the team.
Jann ended up finishing the series in 9th, winning one race and reaching the podium in another.
He changed teams in 2015, back to Carlin, but still in the GP3 championship. He was also offered the opportunity to race at LeMans for Nissan Motorsport in their LMP1 car, the pinnacle of sports car motorsport, where he went head-to-head with factory racing teams from Audi and Porsche, against drivers such as Mark Webber and Niko Hulkenberg.
Leaked reports suggest Renault is set to buy a majority share of the Lotus F1 team, and with that, would be looking to replace driver Pastor Maldonado, who is racing at the team primarily because of financial backers.
For someone like Jann, this opens huge doors.
Renault and Nissan have had an alliance, both with their road cars and motorsport for several years. In fact, thanks to this partnership Jann tested a Formula Renault 3.5 car at the end of last year.
Sources also informed news.com.au that Jann would be driving a GP2 car at this weekend’s round in Monza, Italy. It’s the last step needed before making the leap to Formula 1.
Everything is lining up for the young Brit for the ultimate motor racing fairy tale story.
Australia’s Matthew Simmons was a postie last month, now he’s a pro racer.
Australia’s Matthew Simmons was a postie last month, now he’s a pro racer. Source: Supplied
While Jann is prepping himself for a potential Formula 1 seat, Australia’s former postie-now-racer Matthew Simmons, who won this year’s International GT Academy set flight for his new home in the UK earlier this week, where he will be spending the next three months being transformed from a gamer into a racer.
The GT Academy has been a huge success for Nissan, with drivers winning racers all over the world against some of the best drivers on the planet. Two former graduates, Florian Strauss and Wolfgang Reip even won this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
The brain child of Darren Cox, the GT Academy is an international competition that gives Gran Turismo players the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a real-life professional drivers.
Any player who can prove their driving skills in the virtual world can compete on a real track in a real car.
Gamers try their best to punch the fastest times they can on the game before the top drivers are put against each other in the real world, in real cars to find the next champion.
The competition is fierce, gruelling and the most challenging thing most ever experience in their life, before racing for real, of course. So it’s no surprise that Nissan’s program has taken the motorsport world by storm, and is potentially developing the next great F1 talent.
Could Jann Mardenborough be the next Lewis Hamilton?
Could Jann Mardenborough be the next Lewis Hamilton? Source: Supplied.

Nico Hulkenberg signs new Force India deal

There's no place like home for Formula One driver Nico Hulkenberg.
The German is so happy with Force India that he has signed a new deal to drive for the British-based team for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
"I feel at home here so it made perfect sense to make a long-term commitment," Hulkenberg said in a team statement.
"I know this team inside out and the progress shown over the last two years has really impressed me and gives me confidence for the future."
Highly-regarded Hulkenberg had been one of the names linked with a potential switch to Ferrari in 2016, and not for the first time in his F1 career.
But the Italian team ended the usual frenzied speculation by re-signing Finnish favorite Kimi Raikkonen to drive alongside Sebastian Vettel in 2016.
Hulkenberg, who burnished his reputation by winning the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race with Porsche in his spare time this season, becomes the latest driver to save his spot on the grid for next season.
His teammate Sergio Perez has yet to commit his future to Force India and the Mexican has been linked with a move to Lotus.
The so-called driver merry-go-around usually spins into action as summer draws to a close and the racers will inevitably face more questions over their future at this week's Italian Grand Prix.
There are no worries, however, for world champion Lewis Hamilton, who inked a three-year deal with Mercedes in May, or his teammate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton heads to the full-throttle Monza circuit with a 28-point lead over Rosberg in the world championship and chasing a seventh win of the season.
"Racing in Italy brings back a lot of good memories for me, and I've love to add to those this weekend, so that's the aim," said the double world champion in a team statement.
Rosberg arrives in Italy with an extra incentive after his wife Vivian gave birth to their first child, a daughter, on Sunday.
Who will win the Italian Grand Prix? Send us your predictions on CNN Sport's Facebook page or via Twitter.

Thứ Tư, 12 tháng 8, 2015

Formula One: Mercedes, Ferrari in race to supply Red Bull

Battle on behind the scenes to replace failing Renault as ex-champions’ engine supplier

The Formula One rumour mill, a mischievous flow of intrigue during the summer layoff, is going full pelt around three top names.
Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are the principals in a festival of grand prix gossip which, according to my information, is destined to develop into reality.
It all stems from Renault’s upcoming, almost certain divorce from Red Bull, the disenchanted bearers of the French suppliers’ woeful engines that have left the former world masters as humbled strivers.
I hear that Mercedes, currently the monopolising title pacemakers transporting Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg along racing elite’s glory road, have, behind the scenes, joined Ferrari in an eagerness to supply Red Bull with their all-conquering engines.
They are both keeping a careful watch on the developing break-up of Renault and Red Bull, which is not so much acrimonious as merely inevitable and is approaching its climax.
Ferrari’s Sergio Marchionne, I gather, has in the last few weeks offered to sell “customer” Maranello-produced engines to Red Bull from next year, when the fizzy drinks company team’s contract with Renault runs out.
The snag is, I understand, that the power units from the Italian legends would keep its new customers one specification behind the front line works team. And that is more than likely what intensified Red Bull’s alternative queries with the historic German engine builders.
In stark contrast to Ferrari, the Mercedes authorities insist that, without fail, they would supply identical equipment with the fullest quality and endeavour to their buying clientele.
And, what’s more, if Lotus is bought by Renault as rumour has it, Mercedes may have a vacancy on their books that they would eagerly switch to the very troubled Red Bull team.
Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes motorsport, says: “One should not help to make one’s opponents stronger, but we also need to find a balance between pure egoism and the welfare of the Formula One championship.
“We know it is important to have a healthy and exciting platform, as victories are always more valuable and enjoyably satisfying if they are achieved against strong opposition.
“Mercedes as a Formula One team are first and foremost geared to seek our advantage in races and win the world championship.
“But, equally, as participants in grands prix we also have a responsibility to the series as a whole. And on that basis and belief our decisions will be shaped.”
There is clearly a hard-fought tussle developing behind the Formula One scenes and the outcome could turn Red Bull’s demise around and make them winners and champions all over again.
— The writer is a freelance journalist and motorsport expert

Good as gold, or is Vettel’s title bid set to leave him red faced?

During the midterm break from Formula One, many have ruminated over the prospects of there being a third challenger to this year’s drivers’ championship.
Prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were the sole combatants for the 2015 crown.
However after his second victory of the season at the Hungaroring, Ferrari’s new leading light Sebastian Vettel appears to be in the frame to drive towards a fifth tenure atop Formula One’s throne.
With a deficit of 42 points to Hamilton, Vettel is just two race wins down, in third position. Podiums on all but two occasions have aided the four-time world champion during this semi-completed campaign.
But is the threat from Vettel and his renewed Scuderia as genuine as the gold on his Mercedes AMG competitor’s necklace?
Ferrari’s solitary ambition, set by its rejuvenated management team, was to attain two race wins and target claiming second in the constructors’ championship, with a full title in 2016.
But with Vettel almost on the precipice, and a team enriched in success as Ferrari, glory at any time would be desirable.
In their two victories over the Silver Arrows this season, Ferrari have proven that the SF15-T can set the pace at the front, with Vettel akin to his domination with the Adrian Newey designed Red Bull chassis in 2011 and 2013.
In fact, both Ferraris in Hungary managed to sustain robust speed while Kimi Räikkönen was running in second place ahead of Rosberg.
So with the combination of a sound chassis, dependable race pace and the nous of Vettel, a stab at the title is certainly possible.
What will derail Vettel’s hunt is one-lap speed, which the W05 Hybrid out of the Mercedes AMG garage is still setting the benchmark on.
Even if Ferrari were to spend all of its development tokens on their power-unit, they still would not yield their Brackley competitor’s qualifying times.
This illusion of Vettel being in with a shot at the title is reminiscent of Daniel Ricciardo at this very point in last year’s championship.
Nevertheless a grey cloud does hang over the Mercedes AMG squad and several of their clutch moments this season on strategy calls. That and the uncertainty of how the revised starting procedures will affect the grid, with an operator such as Vettel tipped to benefit.
Sneaking the title win from under Hamilton or Rosberg isn’t likely, but until the final flyaway are run and done – the wily old Sebastian is still a mathematical chance.

Rosberg hoping for title edge

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg is hoping the new rule changes can give him the edge over team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship.
New start procedures are set be introduced when the season resumes at the Belgian Grand Prix on August 23 which will see drivers unable to adjust their clutch bite point once they have left the garage before the start of a race.

Under the previous regulations, the drivers were allowed to alter the bite point to optimise their starts and they were also given information from the pits about what settings to use, but the new rules have been introduced to switch the emphasis back to drivers rather than the engineers.

German Rosberg is hopeful that he can steel a march over his rival in the title race as he bids to close the 21-point gap that Hamilton currently holds at the top of the overall standings.

He said: "I like it because it gives me the opportunity to try and beat Lewis in that area. Whereas until now it's difficult because it was not really in the driver's hands."

The 30-year-old admitted that it will be a challenge for all the drivers to get used to the new ruling and he believes it will be interesting to see how well they are all able to adjust.

He continued: "It's going to be a challenge, it really is, because up to now it was so controlled by the engineers, who were doing the settings and everything. Now, to be completely on your own, it's a big change, so it will be interesting. It'll be easy to do it, but it will be complex to do it well."

The former Williams driver has never won at Spa, but he will be hoping to reverse that trend and secure his fourth win of the campaign when the season recommences.
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Nico Rosberg hoping new start rules will give him an edge over Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg believes the new start procedures set to be introduced at the Belgian Grand Prix can give him another weapon in his armoury against title rival Lewis Hamilton.
Starting at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, drivers will not be able to adjust their clutch bite point after leaving the garage on their way to the grid. Previously drivers were able to use a bite-point finder to optimise their starts after leaving the pits and could also be given information about which settings to choose by the pit wall.
The tighter regulations were introduced in the hope of putting the onus on drivers over engineers and Rosberg is hoping he will be able to use it to his advantage.
"I like it because it gives me the opportunity to try and beat Lewis in that area," he said. "Whereas until now it's difficult because it was not really in the driver's hands.
"It's going to be a challenge, it really is, because up to now it was so controlled by the engineers, who were doing the settings and everything. Now, to be completely on your own, it's a big change, so it will be interesting. It'll be easy to do it, but it will be complex to do it well.
"The procedure is the same but you have to be more reactive because the clutch won't be in the perfect position because it's not been set perfectly - it just gets set and you've got to deal with it. It's going to be quite complicated, for sure."
Following poor starts for Mercedes at both the British and Hungarian Grands Prix, Hamilton is wary that the new procedures could lead to more problems off the start line.
"The fact that we can't change our bite point and then we can't even do a bite point or clutch warm up, that's going to be the interesting thing because the clutch varies a lot in temperature throughout the starts. If it's cold or too hot, it'll make a lot of difference in how much torque goes through the wheels and all these things. It will be interesting to see how different it is for everyone and on our side there's a chance it can be inconsistent even more so."

Nico Rosberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg obtuvo el segundo lugar.jpg
Rosberg in 2015
Born27 June 1985 (age 30)
WiesbadenHesseWest Germany
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityGermany German
TeamMercedes[1]
Car number6
Entries176 (176 starts)
Championships0
Wins11
Podiums35
Career points1068.5
Pole positions16
Fastest laps11
First entry2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
First win2012 Chinese Grand Prix
Last win2015 Austrian Grand Prix
Latest entry2015 Hungarian Grand Prix
2014 position2nd (317 pts)
Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German racing driver, currently driving for the Mercedes Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, and has also briefly competed for Finland very early in his career. He holds dual nationality of these two countries.[2]
Rosberg won the 2005 GP2 Series for the ART team, having raced in Formula 3 Euro Series previously for his father Keke Rosberg's racing organisation Team Rosberg.
For the 2010 Formula One season, Rosberg joined the re-branded Mercedes team, formed by Mercedes's takeover of 2009 constructors' champions Brawn GP. Since then, Rosberg has enjoyed his most successful period, winning 11 Grands Prix and earning 16 pole positions. His biggest career achievement was in 2014, when he finished second in the Formula One World Championship for Mercedes, behind his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. During the season he had five wins, fifteen podiums, eleven pole positions and fifteen front row starts. He kept his championship hopes alive until the final race, arriving with a 17-point deficit to Hamilton and although he qualified on pole position, problems with his car caused him to finish the race in 14th place, while Hamilton won the race and the championship.

Contents

  [hide
  • 1 Early and personal life
  • 2 Early career
    • 2.1 Junior formulae (1996–2004)
    • 2.2 GP2 (2005)
  • 3 Formula One
    • 3.1 Williams (2006–2009)
      • 3.1.1 2006
      • 3.1.2 2007
      • 3.1.3 2008
      • 3.1.4 2009
    • 3.2 Mercedes (2010–present)
      • 3.2.1 2010
      • 3.2.2 2011
      • 3.2.3 2012
      • 3.2.4 2013
      • 3.2.5 2014
      • 3.2.6 2015
  • 4 Helmet design and number
    • 4.1 Records and achievements
  • 5 Racing record
    • 5.1 Career summary
    • 5.2 Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results
    • 5.3 Complete GP2 Series results
    • 5.4 Complete Formula One results
  • 6 References
  • 7 External links

Early and personal life[edit]

Rosberg was born in WiesbadenHesseWest Germany; the son of Finnish 1982 Formula One world champion Keke Rosberg and his German wife Sina. Rosberg was born only four days after his father won the 1985 Detroit Grand Prix, driving a Williams. Rosberg spent much of his youth in Monaco with his family, still lives in the principality and speaks French and Italian fluently. He holds dual citizenship, German and Finnish and has competed under both the Finnish and German flag during different points in his early career.[2]He currently competes under the German flag as a driver's nationality is defined by his passport during all FIA world championships.[3] Rosberg married his childhood friend and long-time fiancée Vivian Sibold on 11 July 2014.[4]

Early career[edit]

Rosberg won the 2002 GermanFormula BMW championship, an important milestone in his racing career.

Junior formulae (1996–2004)[edit]

Rosberg started out in karting in 1996 at the age of 10; later in 2000 he and Lewis Hamilton were teammates.[5] Rosberg then moved up to German Formula BMW in 2002, where he won the title. His performances resulted in a move to drive for his father's team in Formula 3 Euro Series, a combination of the several national Formula Three championships that had existed prior to its formation. Rosberg did well there, and stayed on for 2004. In early 2004, he got one of his first tastes of Formula One by doing a test session with Williams.[6]

GP2 (2005)[edit]

Offered a place on the aeronautical engineering course at Imperial College London;[7] Rosberg declined and in 2005 joined the ART Grand Prix team in the newly created GP2 Series. He went on to become the first driver to win the GP2 title.

Formula One[edit]

Williams (2006–2009)[edit]

See also: Williams F1

2006[edit]

Rosberg at the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix
In late 2005, Rosberg was officially confirmed as a Williams driver for the 2006 season. In the Engineering Aptitude Test, administered to all new Williams drivers, Rosberg achieved the highest score in the team's history.[8] In the first Formula One race of his young career inBahrain, Rosberg was driving a car which was not considered competitive enough to get to the podium.[9] and also had to fight his way through the field after losing his nose cone on the first lap. Nonetheless, he finished in the points, seventh behind teammate Mark Webber, and recorded the fastest lap, becoming the youngest driver to do so in F1 history. Following this he was linked with a move to teams such as McLaren.[citation needed]
He qualified third at the next round Malaysia, but his Cosworth engine, on its second mandatory race, blew up after only seven laps. Rosberg did get into the points for the second time in the 2006 season at the European Grand Prix, benefiting from the hydraulic failure of his teammate.
The rest of the 2006 season went less well for Rosberg; he retired in four of the next seven Grands Prix, and in the ones he did finish he was outside the points. His closest attempt to get into the points was in Britain, where he was just one second behind eighth placed Jacques Villeneuve. Rosberg scored a total of four points, three fewer than teammate Webber, over the course of what was a disappointing season for both himself and for the Williams team.

2007[edit]

Rosberg at the 2007 British Grand Prix
Williams brought in new Toyota engines for 2007, along with a new team-mate, Alexander Wurz. Rosberg's old team-mate, Mark Webber, had moved to partner David Coulthard at Red Bull Racing. Initially, the Toyota powered FW29 showed potential in the pre-season test sessions.[10] However, Rosberg remained realistic: "in F1 you cannot normally just jump back to the front [of the grid] from one year to the next".[11]
Rosberg scored his best result of 2007 with fourth place at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix, overtaking both BMW Saubers in the process.
In 2007, Rosberg finished in the points seven times, including a career best fourth at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. He was also placed seventh in the AustralianHungarian and TurkishGrands Prix and came home sixth at the Italian and Belgian Grands Prix. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Rosberg qualified seventh and moved up two places from the start:
"Early in the race I thought I was set for a good result because I was running fifth and the car felt really good, but then the Safety Car came out on lap 21... I had to stop for fuel on lap 23, which meant I missed the re-fuelling window by 13 seconds and that effectively ended my race. New rules punish people who pit immediately after the Safety Car comes out, so I was given a 10s stop-go penalty and all I could manage after that was 10th place."[12]
He suffered only three retirements during 2007; hydraulic failure 14 laps from home in Malaysia and an oil leak at the US Grand Prix five laps from the finish (although classified 16th), where he was on course for sixth place. He had started the race 14th having "glazed" his brakes during qualifying, therefore damaging his confidence. An electronics glitch also put him out of the Japanese Grand Prix.
During the first half of 2007 season, Rosberg saw his teammate Alexander Wurz score more points, but later in the season Rosberg passed Wurz in world championship points, eventually more than quadrupling his 2006 points haul with 20 points.

2008[edit]

Rosberg secured the first podium finish of his career with a strong drive to third place at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix. However, the remainder of the season was more of a struggle. He was given a ten place grid penalty for the French Grand Prix, as a result of crashing into the back of Lewis Hamilton in the pit lane at the Canadian Grand Prix, despite only his race being affected by the incident as Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen were already eliminated.
In September he finished second to Fernando Alonso in the floodlit Singapore Grand Prix after leading a Grand Prix for the first time in his career. This result was despite incurring a ten-second stop-go penalty for pitting while the pitlane was closed immediately after the deployment of the safety car. However, as what appeared to be a simple administrative formality took ten laps to issue, and the slow car of Giancarlo Fisichella was between Rosberg and the next competitive car during those laps, he did not lose much time and rejoined fifth, whereas Robert Kubica dropped from fourth to last on the same penalty for the same offence.

2009[edit]

Rosberg driving for Williams at the2009 Turkish Grand Prix
Rosberg had a solid season in 2009, scoring points at almost every race and also consistently qualifying in the top ten. He opened the season with a solid sixth place in Melbourne, before fading somewhat in the next three races. From China onwards however, he improved, finishing eighth, then sixth, then fifth twice. At his home race in Germany, he put in arguably the best drive of his career at the time, when he overcame fuel problems to climb from 15th on the grid and finish fourth ahead of championship leader Jenson Button. He then followed this up with another fourth place in the Hungarian Grand Prix and 5th in the European Grand Prix. Despite scoring a point in the Belgian Grand Prix, Rosberg's effort to score points at every race in the European season was ended by a lack of pace at Monza. Despite this, Rosberg returned to competitiveness at the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix by qualifying third and putting in the fastest lap of the weekend in Q2 (1:46.197). Despite overtaking Sebastian Vettel off the line, and being on course for second place or even a maiden victory, Rosberg undid all his good work by crossing the white line out of his first pit stop and incurring a drive-through penalty just in time for the safety car. With the field bunched, he dropped to the back, effectively ruining his race. Rosberg apologised to the team afterward, calling his mistake 'silly' and 'stupid'. Rosberg managed to claim fifth place at the Japanese Grand Prix after qualifying eleventh and starting in P7 on a good strategy after a number of grid penalties. Soon after the race Jenson Button reported Rosberg to race stewards for speeding under yellow flag conditions, but Rosberg was cleared after stewards discovered that his dashboard display was only showing that he had low fuel. This secured Rosberg four points, putting him in seventh place in the Drivers Championship with 34.5 points and Williams sixth in the constructors. Rosberg scored every point for the Williams team during the 2009 season.

Mercedes (2010–present)[edit]

2010[edit]

Rosberg driving for Mercedes at the2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
On 29 October 2009 Rosberg announced he was leaving the Williams team at the end of the season. He commented that Williams "have really supported my career over the years and I'd like to say a big thank you to them. However, I'm not sure they can win races at the moment and I would like to".[13] On 16 November 2009, Brawn GP was bought by Mercedes and re-branded as Mercedes GP for the2010 Formula One season. On 23 November 2009, Rosberg was announced as the team's first driver.[14] On 23 December 2009, Michael Schumacher was announced as Rosberg's team-mate, and was given Rosberg's car number (3) because of superstitious reasons.[15]Despite much hype concerning Schumacher's comeback, Rosberg managed to successfully out-qualify and out-race his team mate at most races. In Malaysia, Rosberg achieved his first front row grid start, having qualified second in a qualifying session disrupted by rain; again out-qualifying Schumacher. He eventually finished third in the race; Mercedes's first podium as a works team since their comeback. His third place at the Chinese Grand Prix provided Rosberg with his second podium in succession, and he momentarily moved into second place in the drivers' standings.
He finished seventh at Monaco, fifth in Turkey and sixth in Canada, but only tenth in the European Grand Prix. However, in the British Grand Prix, Rosberg managed a podium finish in third place by holding off Alonso and then Button. But at the German Grand Prix, Mercedes were once again off the pace, and Rosberg could only finish eighth, ahead of teammate Schumacher. Hungary looked more promising, but he lost a wheel while exiting his pit stop and was forced to retire from a point-scoring position. His race at Spa was more successful, and a race-long duel with Schumacher left Rosberg narrowly ahead of his team mate in sixth. The Italian Grand Prix yielded another consistent finish in fifth, achieved mainly by passing both Red Bulls at the start, and took another fifth-place finish in Singapore.
However, he was hit by bad luck in Japan, when under pressure from Schumacher, a wheel detached itself from his car and put Rosberg into the wall. At the inaugural Korean Grand Prix he was even more unfortunate, when while running a strong fourth, he retired from the race after being collected by Mark Webber. Webber had spun into the wall and momentum took him back onto the racing line and left Rosberg with nowhere to go and the two collided. The race at Interlagos was more positive, with Rosberg finishing sixth, despite three pit stops, two of which were taken under safety car conditions which minimised a loss of track position. The following week in Abu Dhabi, Rosberg again pitted under the safety car and this allowed him to finish fourth, a result that secured him seventh in the Drivers' Championship. Rosberg finished 16 of the season's 19 races, of which 15 were points-scoring finishes.
Rosberg at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.

2011[edit]

The new Mercedes MGP W02 proved to be very fast in winter testing. In Australia, Rosberg showed his speed until retiring due to a collision with Barrichello. In Malaysia, Rosberg started ninth and finished twelfth, meaning that for the first time in his career he failed to score a single point in the opening two races of a season. Rosberg took his first points finish of the season in China, having qualified fourth and finishing fifth, as well as leading fourteen laps during the race.[16] During the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix, Rosberg overtookSebastian Vettel during the first lap of the race and led again for three laps in total, but then quickly fell down the field and on lap 42 of 44 allowed his teammate Schumacher to pass him for fifth after the team warned him that he should save fuel.[17]
Rosberg at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix
Rosberg eventually ended the championship in the seventh place for the third time in a row, again above Schumacher in the final standings. However, he had scored no podium finishes during the season, and the gap in terms of points between Rosberg and his teammate decreased from seventy points in 2010 to thirteen in 2011. This was partly because the Mercedes MGP W02 generally had nobody to compete with, with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari having superior cars and other teams being more slow-paced than MGP W02.[18] Rosberg himself pointed to the fact that due to the new Pirelli tyres and the Drag Reduction System, introduced in 2011, overtaking had become more possible and qualifying – where he still had beaten Schumacher 16:3 – had lost its importance.[19] Despite that, he praised DRS, stating that it could turn out to be one of the best rules in Formula One history.[20]

2012[edit]

Rosberg at the 2012 United States Grand Prix
Rosberg finished outside the points in the first two races of the season in Australia and Malaysia, finishing twelfth and thirteenth respectively. At the Chinese Grand Prix, Rosberg gained the first pole position of his career, beating Lewis Hamilton's qualifying time by over half a second.[21] Rosberg took advantage of his grid position to storm to his maiden victory finishing over twenty seconds ahead of second-placed Jenson Button who fell back after a pit-stop error. In this way Rosberg took his first points of the season and Mercedes's first win since Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1955 Italian Grand Prix, prior to their withdrawal from the sport.[22] In addition to that, Rosberg became the first German driver to win a Grand Prix driving a German car since Hermann Lang´s victory at the 1939 Swiss Grand Prix and the first driver to win a Grand Prix during the life of their father who also achieved a Grand Prix victory in Formula One. Subsequently, Rosberg finished 2nd in Monaco but he was mostly slower than Schumacher in qualifying, slipping to ninth in the standings.

2013[edit]

Rosberg during practice for the2013 British Grand Prix; Rosberg achieved his second win of the season in the race.
Rosberg remained at Mercedes for the 2013 season where he was partnered with Lewis Hamilton after Hamilton signed a three-year contract with the team. Rosberg retired from the Australian Grand Prix with an electrical problem,[23] and he finished fourth at theMalaysian Grand Prix.[24] after being ordered by the team not to overtake Hamilton. During the Monaco Grand Prix, he had pole position, led every lap and won the race, especially notable given that he considers Monaco his home and that his father Keke Rosberg won the same race exactly thirty years earlier. On June 30, Rosberg claimed his second win of the season and third of his career at the British Grand Prix.[25] He benefited from a puncture suffered by his team-mate Hamilton and a technical failure for Vettel. Rosberg came back to being 2nd best to Vettel after the summer break qualifying 2nd, only 0.010 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel. Three races later he started and finished 2nd in India, and in Abu Dhabi he finished third. Rosberg again qualified an impressive 2nd at the wet Brazil after finishing first in the practice sessions. He even took the lead but had to settle for 5th, finishing the season in sixth place in the championship with 171 points compared to team-mate Hamilton's 189.

2014[edit]

Rosberg at the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix
In the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Rosberg, having started from third, won the race by over 20 seconds; his father Keke had won the first Formula One Australian Grand Prix in 1985 in AdelaideDaniel Ricciardo finished the race second, but was later disqualified for a fuel infringement,[26] promoting Kevin Magnussen to second and his team mate Jenson Button to third. In Malaysia he finished 2nd, 17 seconds behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton, but in front of Sebastian Vettel to give Mercedes-Benz their first 1–2 since Italy in 1955. In Bahrain Rosberg took pole position but lost out to Hamilton at the start of the race, and eventually finished second to his team-mate, despite putting him under pressure numerous times. Rosberg said the race was "a day for the sport" considering the criticism that Formula One has had in 2014. In China he started fourth but fell back to sixth in the opening lap, however fought to finish second ahead of Fernando Alonso.
As the season moved to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix, Rosberg was pipped to pole by Hamilton. Rosberg stayed with Hamilton for the whole race but could not get through, finishing 0.6 seconds behind him meaning Hamilton took the championship lead for the first time in 2014. In Monaco Rosberg took pole position, but a controversial one where he was investigated by the stewards after a suspected offence for causing a yellow flag incident.[27]Hamilton believed Rosberg had made the mistake deliberately to secure pole but the stewards saw it as an accidental incident. Rosberg's lead extended by 18 points in Canadaafter he and Hamilton had MGU-K and brake issues, but forced Hamilton to retire and not Rosberg, finishing second.
In Austria he won ahead of his teammate, and then took pole position at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, leading until lap 28 where his gearbox failed. At the next round inGermany, Rosberg took the 9th pole position of his career, where Hamilton suffered a brake failure in qualifying, and was forced to start from 20th. Rosberg then went on to take a comfortable victory by 20 seconds from Valtteri Bottas, increasing his lead over Hamilton to 14 points. Rosberg's victory was the first German Grand Prix win for a German driver at the wheel of a German car since Rudolf Caracciola – also for Mercedes – in 1939. In Hungary, Rosberg took pole position again and led the early stages of the race before a safety car period. For the majority of the race, Rosberg was unable to pass the cars of Jean-Éric Vergne and team-mate Hamilton; he ultimately finished fourth, behind Ricciardo, Alonso and Hamilton.[28] In Belgium he collided with his teammate, putting Hamilton out of the race, while Rosberg finished second.
At Monza he overtook Hamilton for the lead, but locked up under braking for the first chicane on lap 29, and was forced down the escape road. Hamilton overtook Rosberg as he was doing so, and went on to take the race win. The next round in Singapore resulted in Rosberg retiring from the race, after an electrical failure. In Japan, Rosberg achieved pole position from Hamilton, but lost out to him in the race, held in wet conditions. From the United States Grand Prix onwards, he took three consecutive pole positions to the end of the season, winning for the fifth time in Brazil compared to Hamilton's ten. In the last race of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Rosberg still had a fighting chance to win the championship title. Later in the race he suffered from technical difficulties with his car losing the ERS. Ultimately he finished 14th and lost the title to Hamilton, saying: "Lewis did a better job than me".[29] He finished the season with career bests in wins (5), podiums (15), pole positions (11) and fastest laps, with 5.

2015[edit]

Rosberg at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix
Rosberg's 2015 season began with second place behind teammate Lewis Hamilton in Australia and third in Malaysia behind Sebastian Vettel from Ferrari, and Hamilton. Rosberg was second in China and third in Bahrain after a brake failure. He recorded his first pole position of the season in Spain and followed that with his first win of the season, his first in Spain and ninth career win. He achieved his tenth career win at Monaco to become the fourth driver to win the Monaco GP three times in succession (alongside Graham Hill, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost). It was also the first time he won successive F1 races. He followed this up with second place in Canada before taking his third victory of the season, and eleventh of his career, in Austria. At the British Grand Prix, he once again qualified and finished second behind team mate Lewis Hamilton. In Hungary he ran as high as second before colliding with Daniel Ricciardo, and eventually finishing in 8th place.

Helmet design and number[edit]

For the 2014 season, a new rule allowed the driver to pick a unique car number to use throughout their entire F1 career. Rosberg picked number 6 and later tweeted "Cool. Got number 6 for my remaining F1 career! My future wife's and my dad's lucky number. So it has got to work for me too!".[30] He also changed the colour of his helmet after 8 years from yellow to dark grey. The overall design included chrome, some Buddhist influence, clean lines and personal symbols, designed by Jens Munser.

Records and achievements[edit]

  • Youngest driver to set the fastest lap: 20 years, 258 days in 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
  • Lorenzo Bandini Trophy in 2011
  • 2014 FIA Pole Position Trophy

Racing record[edit]

Career summary[edit]

SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition
2001Formula BMW Junior Cup Iberia300003818th
2002Formula BMW ADACVIVA Racing20951132641st
2003Formula 3 Euro SeriesTeam Rosberg201125458th
Masters of Formula 310000N/ANC
Macau Grand PrixCarlin Motorsport10000N/ANC
Korea Super Prix10000N/A11th
2004Formula 3 Euro SeriesTeam Rosberg193225704th
Macau Grand Prix10000N/ANC
Masters of Formula 310000N/A6th
Bahrain Superprix10001N/A2nd
2005GP2 SeriesART Grand Prix23545121201st
Formula OneBMW Williams F1 TeamTest driver
2006Formula OneWilliamsF1 Team180010417th
2007Formula OneAT&T Williams170000209th
2008Formula OneAT&T Williams1800021713th
2009Formula OneAT&T Williams17001034.57th
2010Formula OneMercedes GP Petronas F1 Team1900031427th
2011Formula OneMercedes GP Petronas F1 Team190000897th
2012Formula OneMercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team201122939th
2013Formula OneMercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team1923041716th
2014Formula OneMercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team195115153172nd
2015Formula OneMercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team103129181*2nd*
* Season in progress.

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2003Team RosbergDallaraF303/005Spiess-OpelHOC
1
Ret
HOC
2
3
ADR
1
Ret
ADR
2

2
PAU
1
15
PAU
2
17
NOR
1
8
NOR
2
Ret
LMS
1

1
LMS
2
11
NÜR
1
Ret
NÜR
2
3
A1R
1
8
A1R
2

3
ZAN
1
18
ZAN
2
8
HOC
1
7
HOC
2
14
MAG
1
6
MAG
2
Ret
8th45
2004Team RosbergDallara F303/006Spiess-OpelHOC
1
1
HOC
2
1
EST
1
Ret
EST
2
4
ADR
1
5
ADR
1
Ret
PAU
1
Ret
PAU
2
Ret
NOR
1
4
NOR
1
17
MAG
1
6
MAG
2

2
NÜR
1

1
NÜR
2

3
ZAN
1
Ret
ZAN
2
DNS
BRN
1
4
BRN
2
11
HOC
1
8
HOC
2
8
4th70

Complete GP2 Series results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
YearEntrant1234567891011121314151617181920212223DCPoints
2005ART Grand PrixSMR
FEA
8
SMR
SPR
Ret
ESP
FEA

9
ESP
SPR
4
MON
FEA
3
EUR
FEA
3
EUR
SPR
4
FRA
FEA
7
FRA
SPR
1
GBR
FEA

1
GBR
SPR
4
GER
FEA

1
GER
SPR

4
HUN
FEA
5
HUN
SPR
2
TUR
FEA

17
TUR
SPR
3
ITA
FEA

2
ITA
SPR

2
BEL
FEA
3
BEL
SPR
5
BHR
FEA

1
BHR
SPR
1
1st120

Complete Formula One results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
YearEntrantChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617181920WDCPoints
2006WilliamsF1 TeamWilliamsFW28CosworthCA2006 2.4 V8BHR
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
17th4
2007AT&TWilliamsWilliamsFW29ToyotaRVX-07 2.4V8AUS
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
9th20
2008AT&TWilliamsWilliamsFW30ToyotaRVX-08 2.4V8AUS
3
MAL
14
BHR
8
ESP
Ret
TUR
8
MON
Ret
CAN
10
FRA
16
GBR
9
GER
10
HUN
14
EUR
8
BEL
12
ITA
14
SIN
2
JPN
11
CHN
15
BRA
12
13th17
2009AT&TWilliamsWilliamsFW31ToyotaRVX-09 2.4V8AUS
6
MAL
8
CHN
15
BHR
9
ESP
8
MON
6
TUR
5
GBR
5
GER
4
HUN
4
EUR
5
BEL
8
ITA
16
SIN
11
JPN
5
BRA
Ret
ABU
9
7th34.5
2010Mercedes GPPetronasF1 TeamMercedesMGP W01MercedesFO 108X 2.4 V8BHR
5
AUS
5
MAL
3
CHN
3
ESP
13
MON
7
TUR
5
CAN
6
EUR
10
GBR
3
GER
8
HUN
Ret
BEL
6
ITA
5
SIN
5
JPN
17
KOR
Ret
BRA
6
ABU
4
7th142
2011Mercedes GPPetronasF1 TeamMercedesMGP W02MercedesFO 108Y 2.4 V8AUS
Ret
MAL
12
CHN
5
TUR
5
ESP
7
MON
11
CAN
11
EUR
7
GBR
6
GER
7
HUN
9
BEL
6
ITA
Ret
SIN
7
JPN
10
KOR
8
IND
6
ABU
6
BRA
7
7th89
2012MercedesAMGPetronasF1 TeamMercedesF1 W03MercedesFO 108Z 2.4 V8AUS
12
MAL
13
CHN
1
BHR
5
ESP
7
MON
2
CAN
6
EUR
6
GBR
15
GER
10
HUN
10
BEL
11
ITA
7
SIN
5
JPN
Ret
KOR
Ret
IND
11
ABU
Ret
USA
13
BRA
15
9th93
2013MercedesAMGPetronasF1 TeamMercedesF1 W04MercedesFO 108F 2.4 V8AUS
Ret
MAL
4
CHN
Ret
BHR
9
ESP
6
MON
1
CAN
5
GBR
1
GER
9
HUN
19
BEL
4
ITA
6
SIN
4
KOR
7
JPN
8
IND
2
ABU
3
USA
9
BRA
5
6th171
2014Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 TeamMercedesF1 W05 HybridMercedesPU106A Hybrid 1.6V6 tAUS
1
MAL
2
BHR
2
CHN
2
ESP
2
MON
1
CAN
2
AUT
1
GBR
Ret
GER
1
HUN
4
BEL
2
ITA
2
SIN
Ret
JPN
2
RUS
2
USA
2
BRA
1
ABU
14
2nd317
2015Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 TeamMercedesF1 W06 HybridMercedesPU106B Hybrid 1.6V6 tAUS
2
MAL
3
CHN
2
BHR
3
ESP
1
MON
1
CAN
2
AUT
1
GBR
2
HUN
8
BELITASINJPNRUSUSAMEXBRAABU2nd*181*
 Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
 Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance completed.
* Season in progress.