A mere five days after he became Formula One World Champion, Nico Rosberg has announced, quite out of the blue, that, for sure, he is retiring. He had been confirmed as the Mercedes teammate to Lewis Hamilton for next year.
I sort of understand where he is coming from. He has raced for 25 years to achieve this dream of his – “I’ve climbed my mountain. I am on the peak,” he said in a statement. He has a young family, and a life beyond racing that he possibly has never experienced before.
But to achieve that dream and then draw a line under it forever, seems strange to me. Not defending the title. Not using the opportunity to race as the Champion. I am astounded by it.
I have often said how I’m not his biggest fan. How I don’t believe that he is the best driver out there. But he is still only one of a handful of men to reach the pinnacle of Formula One and I admire and respect him for that.
However, when the lights go out in Melbourne in March, will he regret his decision to turn his back on the most successful team of recent years? We will probably never know.
Who will Mercedes put in his place? Will it cause a shuffle up of the ostensibly stable driver market, especially now that most teams have confirmed their line-ups… or at least, we thought they had. Interesting times lay ahead.