“I was shocked”: Even for Nico Rosberg’s wife seeing 2016 F1 champion retire was unprecedented

Tanish Chachra | 14/01/2023
"I was shocked": Even for Nico Rosberg's wife seeing 2016 F1 champion retire was unprecedented

Nico Rosberg shocked the entire F1 fraternity when he decided to retire only a few days after he won his maiden championship. He walked over a $100 million worth of contract waiting for him.

The toll of competing against Lewis Hamilton had drained the German race driver. And instead of prolonging his success, he decided to stay with his family, as he claims his wife did a lot for him during the 2016 season to see him as the world champion.

Therefore, he chose his family at the peak of his F1 career. A choice only a few top athletes could dare to opt for. That’s why even his wife, Vivian Rosberg, was initially shocked to see him taking this route.

Also read: When a drunk Kimi Raikkonen collapsed on the feet of his fan

Nico Rosberg’s wife tells her reaction to his retirement

Rosberg credits her wife massively for his 2016 championship triumph. But he admits that she doubled the efforts in her parenthood as often she was all alone while managing their newborn child.

Therefore, he felt it was time to stop and didn’t want to lose precious family time. But initially, Vivian didn’t see it coming when the Mercedes superstar didn’t want to continue.

“When he took the decision, I was of course, a bit shocked,” Vivian said to BBC. “But very very happy, when he said you know what I think I’ll stop. I am stopping.”

However, Rosberg immediately interrupted and claimed that his wife had a very stoic reaction and said, “yeah, do whatever.”  Not to be a buzzkill, Vivian joked back that, yeah, that was her exact reaction to his retirement.

He inspired several people

In the video, Vivia revealed that Rosberg’s decision to retire inspired several people to leave their hectic daily jobs and do something that would give them enough time with their families.

Vivian revealed that several people wrote letters revealing their desire to have some space to be with their loved ones or do what they love doing in life. Such responses from people really touched her.

Several people questioned Rosberg’s decision to go away, but he never looked back even once or reversed his retirement. Though, he still is in touch with F1 and does broadcasting gigs with SkySports. But he’s away from his treacherous F1 calendar.

Also read: Kimi Raikkonen lashes out at Alfa Romeo race engineer after crashing at Silverstone

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Mercedes Nico Rosberg Vivian Rosberg

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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