Nico Rosberg was once asked several ‘this or that questions‘ during the pre-turbo hybrid era. One of the questions the German former driver was asked was to pick the better driver between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. In reply, Rosberg gave a hilarious answer.
“None of them. Rosberg” was the former Mercedes driver’s reply with a smug. Rosberg was asked this question at a time when Alonso and Vettel were battling each other for the championship.
Vettel won the title for four years in a row between 2010 and 2013, but it was in 2010 and 2012 that he had an extremely close championship battle with Alonso. Although Rosberg was nowhere in the championship picture back then, he interestingly yet chose himself as the best driver.
However, Rosberg did have his moment of glory when F1 entered the turbo-hybrid era. After losing in 2014 and 2015 to Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg finally won his maiden and only title in 2016. Rosberg won the championship despite many considering Hamilton a far superior driver to him.
Rosberg chose several desperate measures to win the 2016 title
Since the two Mercedes teammates were fighting for the title in 2016, the stress was high in the entire camp. However, it was particularly high for Rosberg, who had lost to Hamilton in both 2014 and 2015.
As a result, Rosberg turned to desperate measures to gain an edge over Hamilton. Rosberg first removed the paint from his helmet to save 80g. He then also stopped cycling, one of the things he’s passionate about. He did this to lose calf muscle and save weight.
Alongside taking such extreme steps to gain an advantage over Hamilton, Rosberg also had to battle the nerves on the track while battling the British driver, who had already won three titles by then. Once Rosberg managed to achieve his dream in 2016, he chose to retire as he wanted to spend more time with his family.
