Nico Rosberg drives for Mercedes.  He is a gifted racer, perhaps having inherited his talent from his father, Finnish world drivers' champion (1982) Keke Rosberg. Nico holds dual nationality, Finnish and German and has raced under each at different times of his career. He is the former GP2 world champion (2005), and many expect him to win the F1 title in the next few years.

Nationality & DoB	German , 27-06-85
Team	Mercedes GP
Car Number	8
Prior Teams	Williams (09, 08, 07, 06)
Championships	0
Races	89
Wins	0
Podiums	5
Pole Positions	0
Fastest Lap	2
First Race	2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
First Win	None
Last Win	N/A

Nico Rosberg, as with most F1 drivers started in Karting. He moved to German Formula BMW in 2002, winning the title. He then raced in the Formula Three Euro Series until the end of the 2004 season.

In 2005 he declined a place to study at the prestigious University, Imperial College London, to join the ART Grand Prix team and race in the GP2 series. He won the title.

Nico Rosberg began his F1 career in 2006 driving for Williams, the same team his father won his world championship. As illustration of Nico's intelligence he scored the highest score in the team's history in the 'Engineering Aptitude Test', taken by all new Williams' drivers.

In his first race in Bahrain, the Williams car was not considered competitive, however, Rosberg finished seventh despite having to stop to have the car's nosecone replaced on the first lap. He also recorded the fastest lap, becoming the youngest driver to do so in F1 history.

The Williams car struggled in the 2006 season, Rosberg did score points at the European GP, but a season that included nine retirements was not memorable. His team mate, the experienced Mark Webber, did very little better, scoring just three more points than the rookie Rosberg. The Williams car was better in 2007, and Rosberg was able to finish in the points in seven races, including a fourth place in Brazil. Importantly, Rosberg beat his new team mate Alexander Wurz in the championship standings and finished ninth.
 
The 2008 Williams was still some way off the pace of the front running teams. Rosberg did however, finish on the podium in two races: He was third at the Australian GP, and second at the Singapore GP, a race in which he also held the lead for the first time in his F1 career. Rosberg finished a disappointing 13th place in the drivers' championship.
 
In 2009 Rosberg stayed with Williams and had a good season, scoring points consistently and regularly qualifying in the top ten. A 6th place in the Australian GP was a solid start. The next three races were challenging but an eighth place in China was followed by a 6th and consecutive fifths at the next two races. At his home race in Germany, he overcame fuel problems to climb from 15th on the grid and finish 4th ahead of championship leader Jenson Button. A 4th place in the Hungarian Grand Prix and 5th in the European Grand Prix followed. A point in the Belgian Grand Prix, was not repeated at Monza were he finished in sixteenth

Rosberg returned to competitiveness at the 2009 Singapore GP by qualifying 3rd and putting in the fastest lap of the weekend in Q2. Despite overtaking Vettel (Red Bull) off the line, and being on course for 2nd place or even a maiden victory, Rosberg made a mistake by crossing the white line out of his first pit stop and incurring a drive-through penalty just in time for the safety car. With the field bunched, he dropped to the back, effectively ruining his race. He managed to claim 5th place at the Japanese Grand Prix after qualifying 11th but starting in seventh after a number of grid penalties.  Rosberg finished the 2009 season in 7th place in the Drivers Championship and Williams 6th in the constructors. Rosberg scored every point for the Williams team during the 2009 season.

Rosberg's move to Mercedes in 2010 was an inspired choice for both parties. Mercedes have in Rosberg a very fine driver, who is also a sponsors dream; intelligent, multi-lingual and very good looking. Mercedes have the financial and engineering capacity to develop a competitive car that will create a championship winning opportunity.

Most would have predicted at the start of the 2010 season that he would be very much the number two driver, and that his 'partnership' with at Mercedes would be in the shadows of Michael Schumacher. However, for Rosberg there are few downsides, if he beats Schumacher he looks good, if he loses to Schumacher he is losing to statistically the best driver of all time.

At the end of the 2010 season, Rosberg did look very good; out-qualify and out-racing his teammate at most races. He did not win any races, (the car was not fast enough to give him a realistic opportunity so to do) but did have three podium finishes. Rosberg scored points in 15 of the season's 19 races to finish the season in seventh place on 142 points, to Schumacher's ninth place on 72 points.

If Mercedes can provide him with a competitive car in 2011, he is a potential threat not just to his teammate but the entire grid.



F1 record

Season	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2006	Williams	18	0	0	1	0	4	17th
2007	Williams	17	0	0	0	0	20	9th
2008	Williams	18	0	0	0	2	17	18th
2009	Williams	17	0	0	0	0	34.5	7th
2010	Mercedes	19	0	0	0	3	142	7th