Nico Rosberg. Image courtesy of Mercedes GP Petronas
Despite being the first big signing for the new Mercedes GP team, Nico Rosberg has to live in the media shadow that his famous team mate, Michael Schumacher, makes on an almost daily basis. The media focus on Schumacher has disgorged a frenzy of speculation about his supposed number one status within the team, but it can not be overlooked that Rosberg is no slouch behind the wheel of an F.1 car, which is why he was signed in the first place.
While Schumacher has rekindled the glow of his golden years in the sport, Rosberg is a bright spark who still has plenty of years left and the ability to capture an elusive F.1 Championship.
So, who is this young man and can he step out from beneath the presence of Michael Schumacher?
Nico Rosberg was born in 1985, and is the son of 1982’s F.1 Champion, Keke Rosberg. Like his father before him, Nico began driving karts at a young age and quickly established himself as a competent driver before embarking on his single-seat career in Formula-BMW. According to Formula1.com, Rosberg made “mince meat” out of the opposition taking 9 victories from 20 starts. It was this obvious talent that caught the attention of the Williams team who granted him a test drive in 2002, the youngest driver to test for Formula One at the tender age of 17.
Continuing to race in other series’ Nico was eventually signed as first a test driver for Williams in 2005, before securing a permanent seat in the team in 2006 where he partnered Mark Webber. It was a strong debut for him, but over the next three years, despite good finishes in numerous races, the various Williams chassis’ were arguably not quite as competitive as the main front runners.
Rosberg generally out performed his team mates and scored all of the team’s 34.5 points in 2009 which put him 7th in the Championship. It was therefore no surprise that he announced late last year that he had signed on to the Brawn team in an attempt to better his chances with the Championship winning team. A change is as good as a rest they say, however it wasn’t long before he found himself in the new Mercedes GP, team thanks to their buyout of Brawn, and welcoming one of the sport’s biggest names in Schumacher.
The media were quick to assume that Schumacher would automatically become the number one driver by default, especially since he took the number “3” from Rosberg and brings inherent success. However, both Norbert Haug, the Vice President of Mercedes Motorsport and team Principal, Ross Brawn, flatly denied any team orders and Brawn recently defended criticism of Rosberg's testing performance last week.
(Can Nico Rosberg step out of the shadow of Michael Schumacher. Image courtesy of Mercedes GP Petronas)
Rosberg has several advantages in his current position as Schumacher’s team mate: firstly, it’s his young age. At just 25 he has plenty of years left in him to secure a drivers title and is likely to remain in the sport long after Schumacher retires again. Despite the current trend in younger drivers like Alonso and Hamilton winning titles, many of the sport’s Champions have actually been well in their 30’s.
Like Damon Hill before him, Nico Rosberg is accustomed to living in the shadow of a Formula One great. His father Keke is regarded as one of the more charismatic characters in the sport during his era and was 1982’s World Champion. Hill’s famous father Graham had two Championship titles, but Damon would be quick to point out that individual determination not a famous name is a key to success in the sport.
Rosberg appears outwardly fairly unflappable; he is highly intelligent, scoring the highest ever test score on the Williams team’s engineering aptitude test, and proven to be a very consistent driver. Nevertheless, he will need more than just consistency if he is to overcome the aggressiveness of his fellow young guns, Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, and the excitingly talented, Sebastien Vettel.
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(Rosberg in action last week in Valencia, struggled with the position of his seat while the team looked for more pace against the early form of Ferrari. Photo courtesy of Mercedes GP Petronas)
In a few days time testing begins in Jerez, Spain with additional teams putting in an appearance. Rosberg will once again have a chance to showcase any improvement in the Mercedes GP car, but I suspect that given the likes of the aforementioned names and the early form of Ferrari, Michael Schumacher may not be his greatest threat for Championship title in 2010.
Nathan can be contacted at pricklyhedgehog@yahoo.com and welcomes your comments and suggestions.
For more info: http://www.mercedes-gp.com/ www.formula1.com http://www.nicorosberg.com/ http://www.michael-schumacher.de/?lang=uk
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