Nico Rosberg

Nico Erik Rosberg, son of Keijo "Keke" Erik Rosberg, is about to have his 100th Grand Prix meeting this weekend in Hungary.

I was about to write my "best wishes" to him in 'his' thread...but I couldn't find one...so, I figured I might as well start it off.

What is very interesting is that his father, Keke, took part in 114 Grand Prix races in his entire Formula One career, winning 5 of them - all for Williams from 1982 to 1985 - as well as a World Championship.

It's interesting in that Nico is approaching that number quickly and he's already about to finish off his 6th season in a few months...but without a win to his name...and no win in sight given the current pecking order of the cars.

Some say Nico is a great talent...while others say he hasn't fared well against quality teammates in their prime, so it's hard to judge. Mark Webber is, seemingly, his only reasonable benchmark and that was way back in his rookie season in a car that was one of the worst ones ever constructed by Williams.

What are people's thoughts on Nico Rosberg?

Regardless, Godspeed to Nico on the occassion of his 100th Grand Prix this weekend!

 

[Brogan]

Rosberg described his podium on Sunday as the "best podium of my life".

He's beginning to sound like Hamilton...

 

[David Buckley]

On the special features disc of Senna, Jo Ramirez is quoted about how Prost psychologically destroyed Keke Rosberg when they were team mates at Mclaren. Could this be what's happening now at Mercedes?

 

[Bill Boddy]

Since Rosberg won the most recent race, no, I don't think that either of the Mercedes drivers is likely to destroy the other.

 

[Il_leone]

Well Mercedes are apparently making sure Nico is not going to be psychologically destroyed like Barricello or Webber judging by what Hamilton said

 

[Brogan]

We saw an example of that on Sunday.

 

[Titch]

Surely as an intelligent person Rosberg can see what everyone else can see, his race win wasn't down to his brilliant driving, but to race manipulation. Does he really think that everyone believes he won that race by himself.
He obviously thinks we are all stupid.

 

[Brogan]

Well he did beat his team mate by qualifying on pole, and that is all important as to who has the best opportunity to win the race, out of the two Mercedes drivers.

 

[The Artist.....]

Surely as an intelligent person Rosberg can see what everyone else can see, his race win wasn't down to his brilliant driving, but to race manipulation. Does he really think that everyone believes he won that race by himself.
He obviously thinks we are all stupid.

So considering BOTH Mercedes drivers were called in for a pit stop (which was probably unnecessary) means that Rosberg won through manipulation. What utter garbage.

Just think if both drivers had refused to stop (which seems to be what you are advocating; they would have almost certainly had to stop at the safety car, just to hold off the attack from cars behind with fresh tyres, oh and Hamilton would have had to be stacked behind Rosberg in the pit lane!

Rosberg was the better driver all weekend; had Hamilton won the race after Rosberg was called in, THEN there would be scope for calling manipulation!

 

[The Artist.....]

Well he did beat his team mate by qualifying on pole, and that is all important as to who has the best opportunity to win the race, out of the two Mercedes drivers.

There are essentially 2 things that determine who (out of the two Mercs) wins the race.

1. Qualifying on pole
2. Leading out of the first corner.

Sadly, that's the only racing we see between the two!

 

[Brogan]

Indeed.

Makes for boring races, and a boring season overall.

 

[David Buckley]

I don't think there was manipulation on the part of the team, but equally Hamilton questioned their decision to pit him given his knowledge of how the tyres felt. Driver skill is not just about racing but about reading the evolution of the car and the race. I think Hamilton was right to question the team and I think they should have let him have his way as they really had nothing to lose, but I understand why they stuck to their position.

 

[The Artist.....]

Brogan

Couldn't agree more. This season, I have reached a stage of sheer indifference to F1 - simply because the Mercedes walk away with everything. I have asked myself whether I would have felt like this in previous eras of domination - and I suppose the issue is that it's a perfect storm of boredom... One team being utterly dominant; bullet proof reliability; and little to no punishment for drivers who make errors (i.e. if they run off the track, they just re-join later). I just can't bring myself to care any more.

 

[Il_leone]

I have to say Senna vs Prost was brilliant because they just raced and I don;t think Ron Dennis was able to keep the two of them in check.

Its important we get Vettel ( never thought I would say it) challenge the Mercs to make them think differently. It can only be good for fans.

 

[RasputinLives]

Do you remember when Red Bull had a dominant car and Vettel decided not to obey team orders and race his team mate for the win? People didn't seem to like it. Now the view is the only way to make F1 entertaining is to let drivers in a dominant team race and we all want them to ignore team orders.

The public is a very strange animal

 

[Il_leone]

Yes off course we do. I thought Toto promised everyone free racing but this equal strategy is going to cause problems next year if Vettel and Ferrari are up there challenging

 

[FB]

Nico now sits joint second, with David Coulthard and behind Sterling Moss, on the list of most GP wins without a championship with 13. I suspect he might well pass Sir Stirling's record of 16 before he hangs his helmet up.

 

[teabagyokel]

Interesting trio that. The team-mates of the three Mercedes champions.

 

[Road of Bones]

teabagyokel - there's a 4th Mercedes champion you've forgotten about...

 

[teabagyokel]

Road of Bones - Yes, there is. Rubinho can't be far off the top of that must either! 2009 has never felt further away, although 2008 may well be closer than ever.

The team-mates of the three multiple Mercedes champions, then.

 

[KekeTheKing]

It's a bit of a shame that Nico will never get full dues for the thrashing he gave Schumacher.

Qualifying
Faster qualifying time: Rosberg 41 / Schumacher 17
Poles: Rosberg 1 / Schumacher 
0
Front rows: Rosberg 2 / Schumacher 1

Races
Wins: Rosberg 1 / Schumacher 0
Podiums: Rosberg 5 / Schumacher 1
Points finishes: Rosberg 39 / Schumacher 31
DNFs: Rosberg 7 / Schumacher 15
Best race result (inc DNFs): Rosberg 35 / Schumacher 22
Ahead in two-car finish: Rosberg 22 / Schumacher 15

Championship
Overall points: Rosberg 324 / Schumacher 197
Seasons finished higher in standings: Rosberg 3 / Schumacher 0
Highest championship placing: Rosberg 7th (2010, 2011) / Schumacher 8th (2011)

Rosberg is at least the third best pilot in F1 at the moment.