Holy Crap: Nico Rosberg Just Retired From F1

He’s only been champion for a matter of days, but Nico Rosberg has just ended his career on a high by announcing his retirement at an FIA press conference in Vienna.

Rosberg’s moves to retire actually first started some weeks ago at the Japanese Grand Prix. In a statement on his Facebook page, he said:

“This season, I tell you, it was so damn tough. 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. And of course that had an impact on the ones I love, too – it was a whole family effort of sacrifice, putting everything behind our target. I cannot find enough words to thank my wife Vivian; she has been incredible. She understood that this year was the big one, our opportunity to do it, and created the space for me to get full recovery between every race, looking after our daughter each night, taking over when things got tough and putting our championship first.

“When I won the race in Suzuka, 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. 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. I took my decision on Monday evening. After reflecting for a day, the first people I told were Vivian and Georg (Nolte, from Nico’s management team), followed by Toto.

“The only thing that makes this decision in any way difficult for me is because I am putting my racing family into a tough situation. But Toto understood. He knew straight away that I was completely convinced and that reassured me. My proudest achievement in racing will always be to have won the world championship with this incredible team of people,the Silver Arrows.
“Now, I’m just here to enjoy the moment. There is time to savour the next weeks, to reflect on the season and to enjoy every experience that comes my way. After that, I will turn the next corner in my life and see what it has in store for me…”

At the conference, Rosberg said that he has no intention of returning to F1, and will be concentrating on his family for the foreseeable future rather that entering any other racing series.

Rosberg’s shock departure opens up a spare seat at F1’s fastest team, but his successor is not yet known. Mercedes AMG F1 executive director Toto Wolff simply said “now we have to consider [a] replacement. It will be very hard”.

There are plenty of former champions who’d no doubt love a Silver Arrow seat (Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, we’re looking at you), however we’d expect Mercedes to opt for a younger, less experienced driver, such as the highly rated Pascal Wehlein.