It may have taken over a decade of racing at the highest level, but now Mercedes AMG stalwart Nico Rosberg has at last added his name to prestigious roster of drivers – having been crowned Formula One world champion of 2016.
Having endured immense pressure from his rivals during the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 31-year old did not yield his second position in the race which in the end was enough to secure him that maiden title.
In securing the championship, Rosberg joins a unique club of drivers, becoming only the second son of a previous world champion to claim their own crown.
The first being the legendary Hill father-son duo, where father in the late Graham won the first of his two titles in 1962. Son Damon attained his own success 34 years later in 1996, where he beat his own Williams teammate at the time in Jacques Villeneuve.
Rosberg has also by some marvel has secured his maiden Formula One crown, 34 years after his dad Keke won in 1982 – creating a special piece of history for the sport.
The championship victory for the German won’t indeed come without criticism, primarily from the staunch supporters of the runner up and three-time champion in Lewis Hamilton.
Whether they are mere fans or representatives of the fourth estate, there are many who devoutly believe that Rosberg has lucked into this win, as supposed to have won it deservingly.
Prior to the season opening Australian Grand Prix, this writer made it clear that this was a do or die season for Rosberg, having been trounced imperiously by Hamilton the year prior.
“If Rosberg doesn’t deliver he risks being acquiesced to being yet another ‘number two’ in Formula One history.”
Instead the German has delivered one of his most complete campaigns, in all of his eleven seasons contesting Formula One.
His mantra of taking things race-by-race, as supposed to fretting entirely over the end result as seen a calmer Rosberg than previous seasons – calmer and indeed mature.
He may have only delivered nine race victories to his Hamilton’s vastly superior 10, but it has been the consistency to qualify on the front-row at all 21 events, leading to an unprecedented 15 podium finishes – which has seen him have the edge on the Briton.
While the unreliability of the Mercedes AMG W06 Hybrid has been largely attributed to the outgoing world champion’s demise in 2016, as well as a swapping of mechanics on both sides of the garage, it is forgotten how many mistakes the mighty Hamilton has made too.
Having been unable to get a grasp on the new single-clutch starting system until the latter portion of the season, rendered some of his 12 pole positions moot.
Poor racecraft versus the junior Toro Rosso drivers in the early events was quite laughable also. The fact that we have triple world champion in one of the most dominant cars seen in the sport and he brought to his haunches by Max Verstappen or Carlos Sainz in cars powered by a year-old motor!
Barcelona, Baku… There are many places where it appeared that Hamilton failed to display traits of a multiple championship winner.
Perhaps this is where credit is due to Rosberg, for keeping his head out of trouble for the majority of the campaign. For doing his homework so he understands the vastly technical nature of a modern Formula One car.
His performance in Abu Dhabi alone was enough to justify his status a world champion, having not needed to win the race – but endure and demonstrate resilience to not only his teammate, but the likes of Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel who almost had him in a stranglehold.
The Nico of old would have succumbed to the pressure and have made errors in desperation, as seen in Austria earlier in the season.
Above all, what is most humbling about Formula One’s new world champion is his down to earth persona and never-give-up attitude.
Contrary to what is often emphasised, Rosberg’s journey through the sport has been rocky. Having had four fruitless seasons with Williams until 2010, he was paired with the returning Michael Schumacher at the newly berthed Mercedes AMG team.
Even there it took two full seasons before his first race win was realised in China and then waiting more than a year later to back that triumph up again with his first of three wins back-to-back in Monaco.
Add being bridesmaid to Hamilton for seasons on the trot from 2014, it would have been thought that Rosberg would retract into that ‘number two’ driver shell. But no, he’s shown throughout his eleven seasons in the sport that he won’t give up.
Even if he isn’t the fastest driver on the grid, or the most marketable driver in the sense he wants to be Kanye West’s secretary of state, Nico Rosberg’s ability to continue to fight on is the sign of a true underdog – hence now becoming the world champion that Formula One sorely needed in recent years.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
I'd argue 10-9 in favour of Rosberg, if he wasn't terminated on the first lap in Barcelona. Without Red Bull's mistake in Monaco, they would have had that win for sure.
steve
Guest
As far as race wins goes for this year it should be 9 wins a piece. lets not forget that Red Bull gifted Hamilton the Monaco race win this year. He almost certainly would have finished in second. Daniel Ricciardo had dominated practice, dominated qualifying and dominated the race until the worst pit stop in recent memory gifted Lewis this win.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Hence Keke stepping away from the media attention and Nico's career in 2010, when he joined Mercedes. Why there are people today asking WHY DID YOU DISAPPEAR is such a stupid question to ask, if they're the same people to earmark Nico as 'Keke's son'.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
The same manner in which Hamilton fans dismissed Rosberg's three victories to conclude 2015, which ultimately might have proven pivotal to the German's 2016 campaign. Certainly the title was secure for Hamilton, yet Rosberg enjoyed as significant an advantage as the Briton, though he didn't check out unlike Hamilton who appeared indifferent to presenting each race with the championship in hand.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
I guess its hard to detect sarcasm in words sometimes! The 'vastly superior' line was supposed to be sarcastic, just exaggerating the fact there are people out there who state that because he's won more races, he should be champion. As you say, Hamilton himself had the better rub of the green in 2008 and without Timo Glock stepping aside the championship was Felipe's for the taking.
anon
Guest
Would Rosberg be the worst world champion since Button in 2009? Button was comprehensively outdriven by Vettel and if not for Vettel's appallingly bad luck with reliability he would have won the championship quite easily. Really, Vettel should be a 5-time world champion but was cruely denied due to bad luck. Button didn't have a mechanical failure all season. Rosberg couldn't manage to win a race after round 17, but Button couldn't manage a win after round 7! Button's teammate managed to win twice in that span, so the car was capable of race wins. Button on the other hand wasn't up to the task. The equation was simple for Rosberg after round 17 -- just bring the car home safely in one piece and championship will be yours. Rosberg did that superbly making no real driving errors (apart from saving the car when he aquaplaned), and not putting his car at risk in any way. Button on the other hand after round 7 in 2009 drove with no real composure, he was mistake prone, couldn't handle the pressure, was outdriven by Barrichello who was a good 5 years past his prime. Also, not to mention that Hamilton himself benefited from good luck in 2008. He won less races than Massa yet still won the championship. Needed to get very lucky and have Timo Glock move over in the last corner of the race. Also, Hamilton had a weak teammate while Massa had Raikkonen taking points off of him. If we're going to say Rosberg isn't as worthy a champion as Hamilton, then by the same token we have to say that Button in 2009 and to a lesser extent Hamilton in 2008 were less worthy champions than Rosberg in 2016. You wrote: "He may have only delivered nine race victories to his Hamilton’s vastly superior 10" 10 wins is "vastly" superior to 9??? Forget that. Let's put it in context. After Rosberg crushed Hamilton at Suzuka in round 16, Rosberg held a 33 point lead in the championship. He was in a commanding position, and the equation was simple. You're in the best car of all time, you are almost guaranteed of finishing no worse than 2nd place in a race if you don't make mistakes. Just take no risks, bring the car home in second for the remaining four races and the championship is yours. And that's what Rosberg did. After he destroyed Hamilton at Suzuka, Rosberg held a 9 win to 6 advantage over Hamilton. Hamilton won the last four races because Rosberg was doing all he needed to do to win the championship. The last four wins of the season don't mean anything, just like Rosberg winning the last three races of last season didn't mean much because the title had been decided.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
"Two Rosbergs are champions" sounds simple in theory, yet the magnitude of the sentiment really is undeniable. Not only considered a bridesmaid to Hamilton, he was earmarked as 'Keke's son' rather than a legitimately competitive F1 driver in his own capacity. It is fitting that similar to his father, he grafted his way to the title - both enjoying a considerable portion of luck, yet each had to be on hand to capitalise. He easily could have been content to see his career pass without enjoying the ultimate success, especially once Hamilton established the superiority in the hybrid era, yet he renewed his charge and proved that, as you state, it isn't about being the fastest or most marketable driver which counts, it's going the distance and as Ron Dennis aptly remarked, "to finish first, first you must finish."
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
I'd go so far as to remark that Rosberg may gain confidence in all departments which he has been erstwhile lacking. For some drivers, a victory unleashes the shackles - as we saw with Mika Hakkinen, who became a different beast once he finally broke through (as contrived as Jerez '97 was). For others, the realisation of a title can eliminate the inhibitions which affect them. It's been a steep learning curve for the German, and his final test came on Sunday evening. Regardless whether he still has components of his racecraft to address, in that moment, he validated his worthiness as champion. It'll be fascinating to glean whether he is a markedly more relaxed individual come Melbourne and how this translates in wheel to wheel combat.
steve
Guest
Yeah, while I quite enjoyed this season, I am certainly hoping that the Red Bulls and Ferrari's can put cars on the track that can genuinely challenge the Mercedes dominance over the whole season. F! needs it I believe. I also hope someone seriously does something about Max Verstappen's continued deliberate double direction changing when someone is trying to pass him. It will cause a serious accident eventually.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
His title defense will be a challenge next season for sure, if it is to be believed that Red Bull be on hand to sustain a full tilt at the championship. Add Ferrari to the mix and we could have races similar to Abu Dhabi (in terms of close action, not one driver being a tractor) quite frequently in 2017.
steve
Guest
TBF, there was nothing intense about that 4 way battle at the end of the race. It was manufactured by Lewis in deliberately driving slower than he could have. He deliberately drove slow enough to put Nico under pressure from Vettel and Max but fats enough in the right places to prevent Nico from passing him. Yeah it was an intense looking battle on TV, and made it exciting for some, but it was manufactured. Under normal conditions, both Mercedes cars are 20 - 30 second down the road, and neither of the under powered RedBulls are close to the Mercedes or Ferrari's. That being said, I'm stoked Nico won the title. Totally deserving IMO.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Gday Brando! To expand on my comments before school this morning, The fact that Hamilton is a faster driver than Rosberg, and that he had been destroyed by Lewis in previous years (and I use that verb deliberately) makes this one of the most remarkable championships in the past 30 years. When Prost won in 1986, he was in a slower car than both the Williams' of Mansell and Piquet. It was an incredible achievement. However, he was in a team where he was the clear number 1. Arguably, the Champion has been in the fastest car on the grid every year since. Maybe in 1994 the Williams was quicker then the Benneton, and it is possible that in 2006 the Ferrari was a better car then the Renault, but only barely. However, Rosberg has managed to win (in the fastest car) against a teammate who (In my opinion) is faster then him (only just, but I believe that Lewis is faster then Nico) and a teammate who had destroyed him in previous years. Not only beaten him, but intimidated him, mocked him, ran him off the track and generally walked all over. When Nico threw the hat back at Lewis, he turned a corner of hard edged mental grittiness that stayed strong regardless of how Lewis sulked, moaned, ran into him, mocked him, intimidated him or backed him into traffic. It was a magnificent title, IMHO the best since Prost in 1986
dan ced
Guest
There is no denying Lewis's speed, but it's how you stack up over a whole season. Well done to Nico, I don't think it was a particularly exciting season.. it's kinda just trundled along, but that 4 way battle at the end of Abu Dhabi was pretty intense. Hopefully other teams are in the mix next season.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
@Brando The difference though going forwards is that Rosberg may gain confidence in wet conditions and become a better driver there. Hamilton meanwhile mightn't spend his winter/summer reading the manual to the W08 Hybrid (I realised in the article it should be W07 not W06) to get a head start. Previously, we've seen Rosberg 'suckered' into Hamilton's mind games and what not and what we saw in Abu Dhabi is a definitive statement of enough's enough.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
In a way it is a win for all those drivers you mentioned. As I indicated, Nico himself would have been on the precipice of yielding to that position, if a repeat of 2015 was realised. Again, it shows the will power and resilience that Rosberg has, even if he isn't the outright fastest driver on the grid.
Brando Connor
Guest
I think you are damning Rosberg with faint praise there. Yes I'd say on balance Hamilton is a slightly faster driver. To me two races showed their strength and weaknesses: Monaco and Baku. In the wet at Monaco Hamilton took risks and pushed the car to the limit and was rewarded, Rosberg looked like a gutless wimp. At Baku problems struck them both and Rosberg could think on his feet and solved the problem fast and was rewarded, Hamilton looked like a brainless idiot. The last few races have flattered Hamilton, where he has had nothing to lose. He just went out and drove as fast as he could. If he crashed out or damaged the car in qualifying no big deal he could walk away and say hey I gave it my best shot. Rosberg on the other hand stayed within his limits playing it safe to get the championship win. Rosberg didn't get suckered into a game he didn't need to play.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
That last part - any realisation of this would surely have caused the Hamilton brigade to deny Rosberg and his title ever existed, regardless of the former's antics in 2015.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
It was a marvellous World Championship. To beat a faster driver, in the same car, who had the wood over you - Incredible. This is a win for Felipe Massa, Reubens Barichello, Mark Webber, David Coulthard, Eddie Irvine, Gerhard Berger and all the other number 2 drivers who tooled around behind a gun and never got a moment in the sun. The only way this would have been better would be if in the cooldown room before the podium, Nico had thrown Lewis's hat at him!!