After claiming the 2016 Formula 1 title, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg shocked the world by announcing his retirement from the sport.
Despite being able to finally defeat his teammate Lewis Hamilton in his conquest for the Driver’s championship, Rosberg was unwilling to commit to yet another tough battle and chose to focus instead on his family by spending more time with his wife and young daughter.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo went on record saying that he respected Rosberg’s decision and even made a short quip about the German driver leaving a lot of money out on the table by not choosing to stay with his current team and continue racing.
As for Max Verstappen, he admitted to being a little bit surprised but ended up having nothing but supportive words for someone who was one of his biggest rivals on the race track. Of course it was Hamilton who had the most to say about his teammate’s early retirement, and without giving much away, we will tell you that Lewis was extremely gracious and did acknowledge that Mercedes would be losing a man who contributed a lot to the team’s success.
In the end it was Toto Wolff that went on to say that his team will need to find a replacement for Rosberg rather quickly. While Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein, who’s also a member of Mercedes’ junior program, seems a likely candidate, some rumors have Mercedes convincing Jenson Button to postpone his sabbatical and race for them next year.