The decision to retire probably took more courage for Nico Rosberg than to find the determination to battle back to the Formula One world championship after losing out against Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton the past two seasons.
Just five days after fulfilling his childhood dream with the title, and hours before getting the trophy for it in Vienna, Rosberg yesterday called it quits in a surprise move that stunned the sports world.
“I just want to celebrate and let it all out,” Rosberg said after clinching the title Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
By that time he had already all but made up his mind that it was his last race, as he said yesterday.
“When I won the race in Suzuka, from the moment when the destiny of the title was in my own hands, the big pressure started and I began to think about ending my racing career if I became world champion,” he said in a statement via social media and his team.
“On Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi, I knew that it could be my last race and that feeling cleared my head before the start. I wanted to enjoy every part of the experience, knowing it might be the last time... and then the lights went out and I had the most intense 55 laps of my life. I took my decision on Monday evening.”
Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff admitted surprise but spoke of “a brave decision by Nico and testament to the strength of his character.”
While the likes of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone prefer the flamboyant Hamilton for all the headlines he generates on and off the track, Wolff also has big respect for Rosberg.
“He has a ruthless talent to analyse defeats and get over them,” Wolff told Sunday’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, after having in the past also named him a professor.
After all, success in 2016 came after Rosberg lost the championship to Hamilton the past two years.
But this time around he won the first four season races and was also undeterred when Hamilton dethroned him midway through the campaign.
Rosberg emulated his father Keke Rosberg who won the title in 1982, with just one race win; they are the second father-son champions following Graham (1962, 1968) and Damon (1996) Hill.
“I am very proud that I can follow in the footsteps of my father,” Rosberg said.
He has dual Finnish-German citizenship but the five languages he speaks fluently don’t include the Finnish mother tongue of his father.
His mother Sina is German and he was born in the country, but Rosberg has spent most of his life in Monaco and lives there now with his wife Vivian and their 2015-born daughter Alaia.
Rosberg started his F1 career in 2006 at Williams before moving on to Mercedes’ new works team in 2010 on a current contract until 2018.
His partner the first three seasons was record world champion Michael Schumacher from whom he could learn in all areas of the sport.
Rosberg’s first pole and victory came in that period, at the 2012 Chinese GP.
Hamilton joined in 2013 and Mercedes’ dominance started the following year but it was the Briton who prevailed in 2014 and 2015 as he initially got the better of his old friend from karting.
But Rosberg, who leaves after 207 races with 23 wins, 30 poles and 57 podiums, readily admitted Friday that it took an almost superhuman effort to prevail in a “so damn tough” season.
“Since 25 years in racing, it has been my dream, my ‘one thing’ to become Formula One world champion. Through the hard work, the pain, the sacrifices, this has been my target. And now I’ve made it.
“I have climbed my mountain, I am on the peak, so this feels right. My strongest emotion right now is deep gratitude to everybody who supported me to make that dream happen.”