There’ve been a handful of sons who’ve followed in their fathers’ footsteps into Formula One. But only a handful have both won the world championship. The Rosbergs are one such dynasty, and both came out of retirement this weekend to entertain the crowds at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Keke Rosberg climbed back into the Williams FW08 in which he won the title in 1982, and Nico retook the helm of the Mercedes W07 with which he did the same in 2016.
The father-son duo ran a couple of demonstration laps around the Monte Carlo street circuit after the first test session in preparation for the grand prix this weekend. And while they weren’t actually racing one another (or anyone else), it was still a rare spectacle to behold.
Prince Albert II and F1 chiefs Chase Carey and Ross Brawn were there to embrace them at the start/finish line at the end of the run. But if you missed watching the demo run live, you can still watch it unfold in the video below that Nico shared with his fans. The action starts around the half-way mark.
And in case you’re wondering which is the more accomplished of the two, that’d have to be Nico. While the father won five grands prix and took 17 podiums in the 128 F1 races he contested, the son racked up a far more impressive 23 wins and 57 podiums in just 206 races.
The Rosbergs aren’t the only father-son duo to have both won the F1 championship. Graham and Damon Hill did the same – the father in 1962 and ’68, and the son in ’96. The only other such pair to have both even won grands prix were the Villeneuves. Jacques won the championship in ’97, but Gilles was tragically killed at the Belgian Grand Prix in ’82 before he ever got the chance to live up to his potential.