Nico Rosberg - Good, bad or indifferent?

FB

Not my cup of cake
Valued Member
Nico Rosberg is now in his 5th season in F1 and has found his way into last year's championship winning team after 4 years at Williams. Rosberg has never won a race (although you could argue he deserves to be credited with the Singapore race in '08) but was taken on to replace the WDC from 2009. The arrival of Michael Schumacher has somewhat overshadowed Nico at Mercedes but, so far at least, he has been faster than the most succesful driver ever in F1.

So, is Rosberg a Champion in waiting? Is he a likely race winner but not good enough to win the WDC or was he trading on his father's name to get into F1 and his nationality to secure the Mercedes seat? For me, Rosberg was good at Williams but as he has never had a really good team mate to make a comparison with it's difficult to judge his performance.

Will 2010 prove that Rosberg is the real deal or another moderately talented driver without the capability to move to the highest level?
 
FB said:
Will 2010 prove that Rosberg is the real deal or another moderately talented driver without the capability to move to the highest level?

It is actually a very good question. :thinking:
In my opinion, his biggest problem is his father. World Champion and the first "Flying Finn". Not exactly easy to live up to expectations. (apart from the Finn part LOL )

Don't see him as a potential WC, i see him more as a quiet unimpressionable german driver who will in a couple of years time earn the nickname "quick nic".
Obviously, I could be wrong. :dunno:
 
I think at the moment he's playing the Heidfeldian yardstick role to prove how good or otherwise Schumacher's season is. He lost to Webber on début, beat Wurz and Nakajima easily. I'd like to see a reliable yardstick against him because Naka was seat warming and Wurz and Schumi were/are comebacks.

I think there is evidence to suggest he's good, but not enough to suggest he's brilliant. However, the Mercedes is, imo, clearly 4th amongst the top teams.
 
Its a tough one,

In his time at Williams I always felt they should always be doing better, Webber is is only competitive teammate and even that is bit of an unfair comparison because it was his first season, and now at Merc GP just how good/ is Shumi on his return?

I think he fast and consistent, but i cannot help feeling there is something missing from Rosberg, A little pizzaz or piece of genius weather tactically or technically for him to be a World Champion.
 
If Schumacher's return continues to reveal that F1 has moved on and he has lost his edge, he may well chose to take on the role of mentor to Nico. This is a role he fulfilled quietlly and efficiently at Ferrari, converting Felipe into a much sharper, far less irratic and more complete driver.

Nico is very quick but appears to have a bit of the Trully gene in that he tends to wander off in a race. Race craft is something that Schumacher is uniquely qualified to teach Nico if he has a mind too.
 
Although I agree with the above.

I have a feeling he might be a bit of a....

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV


ralph-schumacher.jpg
 
Has anyone changed their opinion of Nico Rosberg after his performance in China.

He finished 3rd in a car which is generally considered to be at best 4th on the grid, beating both Ferraris and Red Bulls.
His teammate finished a distant 10th.

He now sits at 2nd in the WDC just 10 points behind Jenson Button and 40 points ahead of Michael Schumacher.

So is Nico Rosberg finally showing what he can do now that he has a half decent car under him or was the China result largely luck and only because he stayed out on slicks and had 2 less pit stops than most of the other drivers?
 
Brogan said:
Has anyone changed their opinion of Nico Rosberg after his performance in China.

He finished 3rd in a car which is generally considered to be at best 4th on the grid, beating both Ferraris and Red Bulls.
His teammate finished a distant 10th.

He now sits at 2nd in the WDC just 10 points behind Jenson Button and 40 points ahead of Michael Schumacher.

So is Nico Rosberg finally showing what he can do now that he has a half decent car under him or was the China result largely luck and only because he stayed out on slicks and had 2 less pit stops than most of the other drivers?

Not really.. I think his performance just confirms my opinion ;)
 
I had Nico down for a strong showing at the start of the season and Michael catching up but ultimately losing out to his fitter, younger, hungrier team mate. Michael seems even more at sea than I imagined and I don't actually see him recovering any of his former glory. Nico as yet appears exactly as I predicted, very quick, determined and out to eclipse his older, wiser foe. He was the only driver on the circuit wiley enough to out fox Lewis in China but ultimately lost out on 2nd place in the pits. Had he secured P2 I feel sure he would have gone up in even my high expectations. Since he didn't I do not feel the need to revise my opinion, he is a huge talent and I always feel sorry for any driver that has had to endure an extended tenure with Williams. The graveyard of many wannabe F1 Champions with the built in ejector seat if you happen to succeed!
 
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