Nico Rosberg may not have had the longest of stints in F1 but it was exceptional until it lasted. His dream was always to become a world champion like his father, Keke Rosberg, and he finally achieved the same after winning his maiden and only title in 2016.
An eight-year-old Nico had once revealed how his father — who won the championship in 1982 — inspired him to take up karting and how since then he always wanted to compete in F1. In a three-decade-old RTL interview, Nico said,
“I can learn to drive go-karts because he [Keke] is a world champion. He can teach me how to drive go-karts and later, I’ll drive in Formula 1, [and] try to become a world champion too”.
baby nico talking about his father, go-karts, and becoming world champions together
“yes, then i can learn to drive go-karts because he is a world champion. he can teach me how to drive go-karts and later, i’ll drive in formula 1, try to become a world champion too” pic.twitter.com/8DjSdHgZSQ
— moreau ☆ (@rbullvettel) August 22, 2024
Rosberg‘s dream of becoming an F1 world champion came to reality in 2016 amid an intense battle with his friend-turned-rival, Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes duo fought tooth and nail until the final race in Abu Dhabi — where Nico needed a P3 finish at least to beat his teammate to the title.
And he was successful in holding his nerve to finish second behind Hamilton to win the championship by five points. Although, Nico surprised everyone with his decision to immediately retire from F1, having achieved everything he wanted to in the sport.
Even Keke Rosberg’s title win was nothing short of surprising as he just managed to win one race in the entire campaign, while five of his rivals managed to win two races. However, it was Keke’s consistency that helped him win. The Finnish former driver managed to finish in the top five in every race that he crossed the chequered flag, barring one.
