Nico Rosberg announces his shock retirement from Formula One

This afternoon saw the 2016 Formula One Drivers Champion Nico Rosberg announcing his retirement from Formula One less than a week after being crowned world champion in Abu Dhabi.

Rosberg made the announcement at a press conference this afternoon ahead of the FIA prize giving in Vienna where he is due to be presented with the championship trophy. He made clear that after achieving his childhood dream of being crowned Formula One World Champion, he wanted to spend more time with his wife Vivian and young daughter away from the pressures of Formula One, saying he “could not go through that again”.

After twice losing the title in direct battles with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2014 and 2015, Rosberg finally beat Hamilton to the title this year. He confirmed he was not considering returning to F1 at a later date. Rosberg made the following statement to announce his intention to retire from the sport as follows:-

“So, it’s a very special day today to receive the trophy this evening, but for another reason as well,” he said. “I want to take the opportunity to announce I’ve decided to end my Formula One career in this moment here, on Monday. To explain, ever since I started, when I was six years old, I had a very, very clear dream, and that was to become Formula One world champion. It was very clear in my mind, as long as I can think when I was growing up. Now I’ve achieved that, I’ve put everything into it for 25 years of racing.

“With the help of everyone around me, with the help of fans, my family, my friends, I’ve managed to achieve it this year. It’s been an incredible experience for me I will remember forever. At the same time it’s been very very tough, the last two years losing to Lewis were extremely difficult moments for me which fuelled my motivation in a way I didn’t even know was possible, to fight back and to achieve my dream finally. This year was extremely tough as I put absolutely everything into it, I left no stone unturned from Austin last year where I suffered a lot after the loss.

“I pushed like crazy in all directions. I want to thank everyone who was involved, my family … a lot of sacrifices. My wife, for example, at home; every time I was home, she understood that I needed to rest so I never did any nights, I didn’t’ have to take after my daughter. Didn’t do any nights, didn’t did any difficult things, she was always there to support and make everything possible.

“That’s one example of the commitment we all put into it. I’ve achieved this childhood dream and I’m not willing to do that sort of commitment for another year, and I’m not interested in coming fourth or whatever, I’m a fighter and I want to win. So I’m not interested to do that again so I’ve decided to follow my heart and my heart has told me to stop there and call it a day, do other things. It’s been wonderful, it just feels right to me, I’m very, very excited. My wife Vivian is very excited to have her husband back and I’m going to be dad again, which is going to be wonderful, so thanks very much for your support all these years. I’m cherishing the moment, it’s absolutely awesome, all these experiences now, to share the success with all of you and with all the other people, it’s been phenomenal.”

In a statement to the media this afternoon Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff added the following regarding the statement Rosberg issued to the media as follows:-

“This is a brave decision by Nico and testament to the strength of his character. He has chosen to leave at the pinnacle of his career, as World Champion, having achieved his childhood dream. The clarity of his judgement meant I accepted his decision straight away when he told me.

“It’s impossible to capture the essence of a person in a few short words. But Nico has a special combination of natural talent and fighting spirit that have brought him to where he is today.

Throughout his career, people have thought he was on a golden path to success just because his father was a World Champion; in fact, I think in some ways that made the challenge greater – and meant he had to fight even harder with the weight of expectation on his shoulders.

“With Mercedes, Nico has been a relentless competitor, bouncing back from tough times in an inspirational way, and he earned the respect of the sport with his tenacity, his fighting spirit and his grace under pressure. Since 2010, he has poured competitive energy into our team and we have grown stronger because of it. We simply say ‘thank you’ for the incredible contribution he has made to our success, alongside two of the all-time great drivers, Michael and Lewis.

“For the team, this is an unexpected situation but also an exciting one. We are going into a new era of technical regulations and there is a free Mercedes cockpit for the seasons ahead. We will take the necessary time to evaluate our options and then find the right path for our future.”

With the world of Formula One utterly in shock with regards to receiving or even hearing this announcement that Rosberg has made today, I can only say my respect for Nico has gone up massively as an individual but also as a driver as well. To even think about making a decision like this; never mind follow through with this decision, takes a man who knows exactly what he wants and isn't afraid to follow and trust his judgement.

Even though I can understand that people are thinking “Why has Nico done that? He's still young enough to achieve more in the sport, he's given up,” I can understand where you are coming from. I do agree that Rosberg is in the peak of his career, he is world champion and he has shown that he is worthy to be a champion of the sport.

But I can also understand the other side to the argument which is that if the passion, desire and motivation isn't there anymore or if he feels that he has achieved everything he has set out to do in his career in the sport, then just bow out gracefully and do it on your own terms just like Alain Prost did after winning his last world title in 1993.

And this is what Rosberg has decided to do and you might not agree with it as fan reading this, but that is what is happening and you have to respect the huge decision that he has made today. For Rosberg as a racing driver first and foremost to realise and critically access the situation just like say for example perfecting a car set up, shows just how intelligent he is and that he deserves a lot more credit than many fans are prepared to give him.

For him to give up racing in a sport that he has loved since he was younger watching his father Keke racing in the 1980's, then competing in the sport himself, then becoming the second father-son World Champion in the history of the sport; could have carried on racing for a few more years and exceeded everyone's and his own expectations; that has got to be tempting for him.

However, Rosberg fully understands everything internally in the sport and externally in the sport (such as family commitments) that is required to become a world champion and isn't prepared to do it anymore to focus on other aspects of his life. If you remember as well, Alain Prost did the same after winning his third title in 1993 and focused on a management role within racing generally.

But Rosberg believes that the time is right for him to focus on other aspects of his life and has no regrets on what he has achieved in his career and is excited at the prospect of what may arise in the rest of life. And why should he regret the decision that he has made and one that is going to make him happy?

Rosberg has shown in his amazing career that when everything comes together he is a threat just as much as Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel or even Daniel Ricciardo. He certainly never lacked the ability, speed, commitment or the intellect to race as well as he possibly could throughout his career with the Williams team and the Mercedes team.

Let's not forget that Rosberg is also the first ever German Formula One driver to win a title in a German team with a German engine. Rosberg now leaves F1 as the current World Champion with 26 victories to his name, 57 podium finishes, 30 Pole Positions and 20 Fastest Laps. And that is something he can be proud of, hold his head high and ensure that he will always be in the engraved in the history of Formula One forever.

With social media at the moment debating the true reasons why Rosberg has decided to retire, people will always believe what they want to believe but what matters is that Nico is doing what he thinks is best for himself and more importantly for his young family. And sometimes family have to come first and that is a decision that sometimes ends up being one of the best you will ever make. Goodbye Nico, You will be missed.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa