On 12 March 2006, Nico Rosberg made his Components 1 debut, taking seventh place within the Bahrain Grand Prix with Williams.
The son of 1982 Components 1 champion Keke Rosberg was among the many hottest prospects in junior formulae; he was signed by Williams as a check driver after taking fourth place within the 2004 F3 Euro Sequence as a sophomore, two factors forward of rookie Lewis Hamilton.
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Rosberg went on to affix the newly fashioned GP2 Sequence (now Components 2) for 2005 and beat Heikki Kovalainen to the title in a two-horse race, incomes commencement to the world championship at Williams alongside Mark Webber. The transfer was facilitated by BMW making Sauber its works workforce and taking Nick Heidfeld with it; Williams settled for a Cosworth provide.
Nico Rosberg, Williams
Photograph by: Rainer Schlegelmilch / Getty Photos
Rosberg due to this fact made his F1 debut on the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix, on the similar circuit the place he earned GP2 glory in emphatic style, profitable the 2 races of the weekend, below six months earlier.
The German – having switched from a Finnish racing licence in 2004 – was simply 20 years previous on the time of his first grand prix, however was extremely rated by Williams.
“His pure expertise within the cockpit is equally matched by his intelligence out of it, demonstrated by his depth of technical understanding and communication of information over the months spent as a check driver this season,” the workforce wrote in a press release when confirming Rosberg as its new race driver.
Nico Rosberg, Williams
Photograph by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Photos by way of Getty Photos
“Regardless of his youth, his wealth of expertise displays the early begin made by up to date drivers and it’s important to notice that Nico has recorded extra race begins by the age of 20 than his father… recorded in a whole profession.”
The 2006 Bahrain GP additionally marked the implementation of the present Q1/Q2/Q3 qualifying system. Rosberg made it to the second phase of the session at Sakhir, three tenths slower than Webber; he took twelfth place on the grid, with the Australian as much as seventh.
However Rosberg’s begin was haphazard as he poked his nostril down the within of Heidfeld, in a niche that was at all times going to shut. The FW28’s entrance wing was damaged; the rookie discovered himself behind the sector, 57 seconds away from the lead and 47 seconds down on the final points-paying place.
Nico Rosberg, Williams
Photograph by: Rainer Schlegelmilch / Getty Photos
But, Rosberg’s tempo was exceptional. By lap 18, he had misplaced simply 12 extra seconds to eventual race winner Fernando Alonso; over the rest of the race, he really gained time on the Renault driver and his Ferrari rival Michael Schumacher.
So Rosberg caught up; he successively overtook Takuma Sato, Scott Pace, Heidfeld, David Coulthard and Christian Klien to complete seventh, 21 seconds behind sixth-placed team-mate Webber – down from 46 seconds on lap two – and rating two factors on debut.
“I regarded on the pitboard the primary time round and I used to be useless final and 60 seconds behind everybody, so I believed that was it and I did not count on something from the race,” the Williams driver commented after the race.
“Then abruptly I began shifting up after which on the radio they had been saying: ‘Nico you are doing nice, you are the quickest man on the circuit’. And I used to be like, ‘no approach’.
Nico Rosberg, Williams
Photograph by: Mark Capilitan / Sutton Photos by way of Getty Photos
“It felt actually good on the market and I used to be simply pushing like hell. I received nearer and nearer after which had some nice overtaking manoeuvres… which was a whole lot of enjoyable.
“I may really feel that I used to be bloody fast, however it was a little bit of a shock. I imply you may have [Michael] Schumacher and [Fernando] Alonso driving flat out on the entrance and I used to be racing faster than them, so it was a bit shocking to me, however it was actually nice.”
At 20 years, 8 months and 13 days previous, Rosberg was the third-youngest factors scorer in historical past behind Jenson Button and Ricardo Rodriguez – 20 years later, he’s the Seventeenth-youngest.
Rosberg really didn’t rating simply factors; he additionally set the quickest lap by a tenth over Schumacher and Alonso. This made him the youngest driver ever to take action, beating the Spaniard’s document by greater than a 12 months.
Nico Rosberg, Williams
Photograph by: Sutton Photos by way of Getty Photos
It took 10 years for anybody to surpass Rosberg’s document; Max Verstappen set the quickest lap at 19 years, 1 month and 14 days previous within the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, in a masterful wet-weather show, earlier than Kimi Antonelli took the identical honour in Japan final 12 months at 18 years, 7 months and 12 days previous.
“I believe it is the very best efficiency of any younger driver that I’ve seen for a really very long time,” three-time world champion Jackie Stewart commented.
“I am unable to bear in mind a efficiency in a primary grand prix that was so spectacular. I had a sixth place in my first grand prix however he got here from the again and I actually did not get quickest lap. His judgement, the way during which he went about it… it is a uncommon commodity in the present day however as a racing driver he is aware of how one can cross and carries it out.”
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The rest of the 2006 season was tough for Rosberg amid reliability gremlins and driver errors, and he scored simply two extra factors. However his efficiency ramped up over his first 4 seasons in F1, resulting in a breakthrough transfer to Mercedes which might culminate in his hard-earned 2016 title success – and his racing retirement 5 days later.
“Nico may even win the world title. It will take time, however he can do it,” two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen mentioned again in March 2006. The Finn may hardly have phrased it higher.
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1, 2016 World Championship victory behind the scenes
Photograph by: Paul Ripke
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