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!

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

There's a link in the 'Mercedes' thread (in post #11) which suggests Nico should be doing everything in his power to get Webber's seat or Massa's seat as soon as he can lest he remain winless for 7 or 8 years in F1...

http://cliptheapex.com/threads/mercedes-benz.3367/

From what Haug is saying, they don't look like winning next year or the year after.

Nico - according to many - shows much promise. It's meaningless if you can't turn that into Victory trophies!

There comes a time when being a "talented prospect" needs to be translated into a "winning driver"...and that time is coming up. Soon.

If not, then time is going to run out on Nico.

 

[gethinceri]

I like Nico Rosberg, and I wish him all the best for success. In terms of whether he's up there with the best of the current crop I'm unsure; part of the champion's career is the way they're managed and the way they manage themselves, if he's in the Mercedes now and should have been in another car then that's his and his management's fault, it's too easy to say "if X were in the same car (or a competitive car) as Y we'd see that X is better - motorsport isn't like that. He needs to be in a better car, if he can't jump ship to a front runner then he'd better be sure the car he's in can be made better pretty soon.

 

[teabagyokel]

If Williams had produced the 2009 Brawn instead, Nico Rosberg would have won the World Championship.

And, frankly it could still happen. I was guilty of writing Jenson off.

 

[Il_leone]

If Williams had produced the 2009 Brawn instead, Nico Rosberg would have won the World Championship.

And, frankly it could still happen. I was guilty of writing Jenson off.

Yes but remember Nico was fastest in the practice sessions but could do it when it mattered in 2009 Williams

I remember his race in Oz when he fitted the new tyres and was like a greyhound for 2 laps and then ended up limping over the line in 7th and in Malaysia when he blasted into the lead and had a gap but after the pitstops suddenly was third . When the rain came he was going backwards including 1 lap being 8 seconds slower than Button...its things like these that would make people wonder

 

[teabagyokel]

Yes but remember Nico was fastest in the practice sessions but could do it when it mattered in 2009 Williams

Yes, but practice means squat, doesn't it? I don't think that necessarily means he'd have choked if the Williams was as good as the Brawn. I think he was flattering the car, to be honest, look at Nakajima's results. He'd not done [that] badly in 2008, y'know!

 

[The Pits]

Ninja, I believe i said that nico has had chances, which he has. Maybe not in a car like jb had in 09, and I agree that he probably would have won. However, he was in a position to win twice before and did not take it, and the early 09 Williams was none too shabby, along with the Toyota, which should also have done better early on with the traditional top teams struggling.

To be fair, i think fb said it best.

 

[Quintessentially]

Rosberg actually skidded off just before he was passed by Jenson in china last year and also lost 2nd place to Lewis although the safety car was the reason for bunching up the field when Jenson was leading by a big margin to the others

and I am saying that in Canada this year I think Jenson would have got the podium when Schumi got 4th

Rosberg finished over 8 seconds behind second placed Hamilton. All the evidence suggests the Mercedes didn't have the pace to keep up let alone stay ahead of the McLaren, whether he skidded off or not. If i remember correctly Hamilton jumped him in the pits, this should tell you how much faster the McLaren was under those conditions. To say Jenson would've won the race has no basis whatsoever, considering he's had races like Korea where he descended into mediocrity with no strategy calls to save him.

 

[Il_leone]

Yes, but practice means squat, doesn't it? I don't think that necessarily means he'd have choked if the Williams was as good as the Brawn. I think he was flattering the car, to be honest, look at Nakajima's results. He'd not done [that] badly in 2008, y'know!

Problem is Nakajima is no yardstick to compare against especially as he is only in the team to save Williams paying for engines
So Nico's ultimate potential is unknown and he took a lot of battering for surrendering to Hamilton in Melbourne last year . EJ was wondering why Nico surrendered to Jenson so easily at Valencia

 

[teabagyokel]

So Nico's ultimate potential is unknown and he took a lot of battering for surrendering to Hamilton in Melbourne last year . EJ was wondering why Nico surrendered to Jenson so easily at Valencia

Because what is the point of fighting when he'll pass you anyway? It was lap 5, there were pit stop phases, Nico would have just lost time to the amorphous mass behind him if he fought too hard.

There are 5 drivers who took more than 100 races to earn their first win including one World Champion (and Mika Hakkinen took 96). It is not worth writing a career off at 26 years old!

And don't ever forget, he's not won an F1 race for one reason and one reason only. FIA idiocy. If the FIA had bothered to investigate Nelsinho Piquet's crash in Singapore in 2008 when his father told them it was deliberate, and spotted the throttle mapping in that case, they would have had no choice (before the WDC results deadline) to strip Alonso of his win. Who was the best non-cheat in that race? Rosberg. Who lost that race because of the ridiculous "pit-lane closed even if you have no fuel" rule? Rosberg.

 

[Il_leone]

Because what is the point of fighting when he'll pass you anyway? It was lap 5, there were pit stop phases, Nico would have just lost time to the amorphous mass behind him if he fought too hard.

There are 5 drivers who took more than 100 races to earn their first win including one World Champion (and Mika Hakkinen took 96). It is not worth writing a career off at 26 years old!

And don't ever forget, he's not won an F1 race for one reason and one reason only. FIA idiocy. If the FIA had bothered to investigate Nelsinho Piquet's crash in Singapore in 2008 when his father told them it was deliberate, and spotted the throttle mapping in that case, they would have had no choice (before the WDC results deadline) to strip Alonso of his win. Who was the best non-cheat in that race? Rosberg. Who lost that race because of the ridiculous "pit-lane closed even if you have no fuel" rule? Rosberg.

I was gonna come to this issue because they did make a big thing about no driver taken more than 100 races to win their first race went on to become world champion until Jenson Button did it in 2009. I hope Nico does not end up like Nick Heidfeld 200 races approaching and still no win !

As for SIngapore 2008 one would feel sorry for Rosberg but remember the stewards actually took 20 minutes before they penalised him whilst they took less time to penalise Kubica or Fisi who was the other offender

 

[Slyboogy]

I am no Rosberg fan but give the guy a little bit of credit...

You say he should have won in Malaysia 09 - where conditions were changing every few laps...

Singapore 09 - fair enough his mistake but that car really shouldn't have been contending for victory anyway

China 2010- where Button was gaining on him each lap as Rosbergs tyres went off, the Mercedes didn't have the pace as Hamilton managed to jump him in the stops.

A race that he could have won, was this year in china but he had to save fuel towards the last third of the gp.

You say he should have taken his chance to go to mclaren in 2008, but was there any point? McLaren said that their goal that season would be to make Lewis Hamilton champion so I doubt it would matter who was in the second mclaren then...

 

[Il_leone]

I am no Rosberg fan but give the guy a little bit of credit...

You say he should have won in Malaysia 09 - where conditions were changing every few laps...

Singapore 09 - fair enough his mistake but that car really shouldn't have been contending for victory anyway

China 2010- where Button was gaining on him each lap as Rosbergs tyres went off, the Mercedes didn't have the pace as Hamilton managed to jump him in the stops.

A race that he could have won, was this year in china but he had to save fuel towards the last third of the gp.

You say he should have taken his chance to go to mclaren in 2008, but was there any point? McLaren said that their goal that season would be to make Lewis Hamilton champion so I doubt it would matter who was in the second mclaren then...

Well the luck did not fall for him then because Keke said he would be going into the lions den and knows having managed a kart team with Nico and Lewis where Lewis beat Nico so knew another beating would have ruined Nico's credibility just ask Heikki. Then again hindsight is a wonderful thing just look at Alesi for choosing Ferrari over Williams

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Franz Tost's pecking order:

Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Rosberg...

http://www.itv.com/formula1/news/2011/8/franz-tost-not-searching-for-the-new-sebastian-vettel-4632/

 

[F1ang-o]

You say he should have won in Malaysia 09 - where conditions were changing every few laps...

Singapore 09 - fair enough his mistake but that car really shouldn't have been contending for victory anyway

China 2010- where Button was gaining on him each lap as Rosbergs tyres went off, the Mercedes didn't have the pace as Hamilton managed to jump him in the stops.

A race that he could have won, was this year in china but he had to save fuel towards the last third of the gp.

You say he should have taken his chance to go to mclaren in 2008, but was there any point? McLaren said that their goal that season would be to make Lewis Hamilton champion so I doubt it would matter who was in the second mclaren then...

The race that Nico won...fair & square was Singaore 2008.....The renault driver Piquet, put his the car in the wall...his team mate Alonso had just refueled & from the back of the grid went through....with ease....& after the safety car.....was in front........Nico was second....But then 'There's non as blind as them...who don't want to see'

 

[Slyboogy]

The race that Nico won...fair & square was Singaore 2008.....The renault driver Piquet, put his the car in the wall...his team mate Alonso had just refueled & from the back of the grid went through....with ease....& after the safety car.....was in front........Nico was second....But then 'There's non as blind as them...who don't want to see'

I am afraid I can not count that as "fair and square" as other competitors where majorily hampered by this incident...so no I don't count that as Rosberg's win, unless Alonso got disqualifed and it was then given to Rosberg.

Other than that, then no...

 

[MCLS]

Rosberg tends to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Williams on a downward spiral and then Mercedes suffering from 2009.

 

[Slyboogy]

To be honest...I don't really see him going anywhere else.

If he went to McLaren in 2008, it probably would have ruined his career due to McLaren fully behind Hamilton, he was never going to go to Ferrari since Ferrari had several drivers lined up, Red Bull have been happy with their line up since 2009. Mercedes is like the only place...and I am sure they will come good eventually, but not in the next year or two.

He could have went to McLaren in 2010, but that looked as if Raikkonen was a dead certain for the seat and he had already signed up for Mercedes by then.

 

[F1ang-o]

Slyboogy Champion

F1ang-o said: ↑​

The race that Nico won...fair & square was Singaore 2008.....The renault driver Piquet, put his the car in the wall...his team mate Alonso had just refueled & from the back of the grid went through....with ease....& after the safety car.....was in front........Nico was second....But then 'There's non as blind as them...who don't want to see'​

I am afraid I can not count that as "fair and square" as other competitors where majorily hampered by this incident...so no I don't count that as Rosberg's win, unless Alonso got disqualifed and it was then given to Rosberg

Other than that, then no...​

Rosberg was second.......no one else was.​

All others would have moved up a place​

I feel sorry for the leader Felipe...but his pit crew could have made that error anyway... it wasn't premeditated​

I cannot believe what has been allowed...but the truth usually comes out .............as with Schue/Hill/Villenueve​

But with the time limit......the only person to change is Nando...& when asked if he counts this as a win, his reply was typical ....YES​

.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

FIA idiocy. If the FIA had bothered to investigate Nelsinho Piquet's crash in Singapore in 2008 when his father told them it was deliberate, and spotted the throttle mapping in that case, they would have had no choice (before the WDC results deadline) to strip Alonso of his win.

It's a shame Williams didn't protest the results. I mean if, as you say, Keke suspected it (i.e. the crash being deliberate), then Williams ought to have protested.

 

[Slyboogy]

I have gave my views above for Singapore 2008....if he wasn't handed the win then I can not except that as his win, because of one stupid incident other runners which would have been ahead of Rosberg if the incident wouldn't have happened where majorily disadvantaged.