It is a sum that you have to think carefully about whether you really want to quit. A proud 100 million euros were ready for Nico Rosberg (36) if he had continued after his World Cup title in 2016. But he gave up. He now reveals this in an interview with “Time Magazine”.
For Mercedes, this decision came completely unexpected. It was assumed that a world champion longs for further success. But for the father of two, it was the right time to quit. “I wanted to prevent being sporty away from the window or no longer wanted and therefore having to go.”
Money didn’t matter
Why the Wiesbadener quit was never a secret. He wanted to leave after achieving his big dream.
A change was also needed: “I longed for a different life. When you do motorsport professionally, you have no flexibility. I also decided in favor of my family. The money never played a role. “
His family played a huge part in the German’s success. In his 2016 resignation video, Rosberg explained, for example, that it was his wife Vivian (36) who looked after their first-born daughter all night long in the year of the World Cup and organized everything around him. So he had enough time to recover.
Difficult moments after resigning
But it wasn’t that easy not to race any more. It was clear to him that difficult moments would come: “I have totally changed my life. I had to learn to deal with it first. “
Before that, he just had to ask himself how he could win the next race. And that for 20 years. Nevertheless, he has no feelings of nostalgia. “What I wanted to achieve, I achieved everything.”
He therefore does not regret the decision to resign. He told F1 Unscripted last year: “It fulfilled me and gave me the feeling that this is the best farewell I could have ever dreamed of.”