Keke Rosberg shares intriguing behind-the-scenes story on his son's F1 retirement in 2016

18:45, 05 Jun

byTobia Elia

Keke Rosberg shared an intriguing behind-the-scenes story about his son's retirement from Formula 1 in 2016, which came shortly after he clinched the first and only World Championship title of his career.

Winning the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship will forever remain the greatest sporting achievement in Nico Rosberg’s career. The German driver decided to hang up his helmet shortly after clinching the title in Abu Dhabi, having narrowly beaten teammate Lewis Hamilton. He then made way for Valtteri Bottas, who took his seat at Mercedes not long after.

Over the years, the now-retired German driver – currently a TV pundit for Sky F1 – has shared several anecdotes about his decision to retire and the fierce battle he fought against his former Mercedes teammate and rival, Lewis Hamilton. However, until now, his father Keke had never opened up about the matter.

A family of winners

In an interview with APU 360, the 1982 World Champion revealed that he didn’t hear about his son’s retirement immediately, but only found out later, as a second-hand piece of news.

“He didn’t say anything,” the Finn said. “Nico sent a text to his mother and said to tell his father later. It felt like a big fist to the diaphragm''.

“Nico knew that if he started discussing it with me, then of course his father’s opinion might be quite weighty, which he didn’t want to listen to. That decision was difficult enough anyway.”

Reflecting on what that title win meant for Nico compared to his championship in 1982, Rosberg finally added: “The biggest thing was definitely Nico’s championship''.

“For me, that championship was just one milestone. For Nico, it wasn’t like that. It was an important event. It was already a pretty big event in terms of family history. My championship in the family was mostly of interest to my father and mother.”