Nico Rosberg exits Formula 1 like a champion

It has been high octane stuff in one of the craziest weeks in the world of Formula One. As the dust and grime settled on the season finale at the Abu Dhabi circuit last Sunday and Nico Rosberg became world champion, F1 was slipping into winter break.

Oh, how wrong the crazy world of motorsport turned into as Rosberg sent millions into a heady spin by announcing his retirement. The 31-year-old German had not even collected his driver’s trophy at the FIA awards function but decided that he had had enough.

In a sport where the rumour mills work as fast as the men behind the wheels of the speed demons burning rubber on the track, none saw this coming. This was a sheer blinder, where Rosberg took his family into confidence and broke the news first to his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

For all those who had watched the crazy race in Abu Dhabi where Hamilton won and Rosberg emerged world champion by virtue of the points system, there was anger. The two drivers are from the same team, yet the fan following is sharply divided.

Add to it the Britain versus German rivalry, Hamilton vs Rosberg had eaten up reams of space in newspapers the last week. All this changed in one flash as Rosberg took to Facebook to make his decision public. So, what was it that made Rosberg decide to say goodbye?

He had said later on Friday that had he not won the world championship, he may have continued for one more season. The Formula One season is getting longer, harder and tougher on the drivers. In 2016, there were 21 races and Rosberg, by his own admission, was physically and emotionally drained since the time he won his last race in Suzuka, Japan.

Rosberg knew the world title was in his grasp and despite the crazy tactics which Hamilton adopted in Abu Dhabi, he had to ensure he was not going to get hemmed in at the rear. Rosberg fans and the Mercedes team were livid that Hamilton was using "go slow" tactics which could have made it difficult for Rosberg.

Hamilton did not care, as his arrogance is something which none can tame. Retirement is something very personal for any professional athlete. Whatever be the sport, it takes a lot for an athlete to decide on retirement. When to quit is a question which is not easy to deal with.

The athlete has to speak to himself or herself, then people around in their close sphere and then decide. Retirements which come impulsively are sometimes reconsidered. Be it football, Formula One, cricket or even tennis, big names have quit and come back. Some have made comebacks successful, but to envisage Rosberg will do a rethink sounds bizarre at this point of time.

Just sample this. For someone living in Monaco, a tax haven, the multi-million dollar contract plus bonuses for Rosberg was too lucrative to ignore. Yet, Rosberg had enough of the F1 circus. The 2016 season had been killing into his personal life and he spoke at length about how his passion for winning the world championship was taking a toll on his wife Vivian and kid.

Rosberg wants time for himself and the family. Few top athletes get to do that as they are all the time in the business of competing and training. Germany has produced F1 world champions before with Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Vettel being the notable ones.

Rosberg has shown that he is so different, and for him that one world championship was enough to quit at the peak. Having been in motorsport for 25 years, starting with initial karting days, Rosberg had seen it all.

A ten-year career in Formula One, starting with the debut in the Bahrain GP in 2006, made him one to watch out for. He had legacy to protect as his father Keko Rosberg had won the F1 world championship in 1982.

When you live under the shadow of a champion dad, the pressure gets higher. And in 2016, though Rosberg versus Hamilton had become a superhit, what was happening away from the race track has come into focus only now. It’s nice to see your favourite race driver hit speeds over 300kmph in the speed trap. It’s nice to see the champion you back do all that hard driving in sun, rain, heat, dust and high humidity.

The challenge is killing and what it takes to finish each Formula One race is in itself a big achievement. A CHAMPION like Pete Sampras retired on a high when he won his last US Open title. But Andre Agassi did not know when to retire and his farewell year on the ATP Tour had become a joke.

Sachin Tendulkar dragged his career far too long while MS Dhoni outfoxed all by quitting Test cricket midway through in Australia. Rosberg is gone, like Felippe Massa and Jenson Button.

The German has taken F1 fans through one hell of a ride in the last one week. Memorable? Yes. Sad? No. He is going out the way a champion should.

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