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Rosberg stuns F1 world with retirement

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Berlin: Nico Rosberg stunned the Formula One and sports community on Friday by announcing his immediate retirement, five days after winning his first world title.


The German Mercedes driver said ahead of the trophy presentation on Friday from the ruling body FIA in Vienna that he is calling it quits after 11 seasons in the high-speed sport.


Rosberg, 31, won the world title on Sunday by finishing second behind British team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.


“Since 25 years in racing, it has been my dream, my ‘one thing’ to become Formula One World Champion,” he said in a statement issued via social media and the Mercedes team homepage.


“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.”


He ends the career which started at Williams (2006-2009) and then Mercedes (since 2010) with 23 race victories and 30 pole positions. He won the 2016 title with nine race wins.


Rosberg said he started thinking about quitting as champion after winning in Japan last month which put him in control of the championship.


“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.


“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 laps of my life. I took my decision on Monday night.”


Rosberg named the season “damn tough” as he finally won the trophy in another fierce and at times bitter rivalry with Hamilton who had prevailed in the previous two seasons.


“I pushed like crazy in every area after the disappointments of the last two years; they fuelled my motivation


to levels I had never experienced


before,” he said.


Rosberg acknowledged he was putting Mercedes in a difficult situation with his sudden retirement but Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff, in the same statement, spoke of “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.”


Wolff praised Rosberg and said the fact that his father Keke had also won the title, back in 1982, didn’t make things easier for Rosberg in his career but rather tougher.


“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,” Wolff said. Rosberg said he will savour the moment now and after that “will turn the next corner in my life and see what it has in store for me.”


Mercedes, where he was originally contracted until 2018, meanwhile face 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,” Wolff said.—dpa


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