Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German racing driver, currently driving for the Mercedes Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, and has also briefly competed for Finland very early in his career. He holds dual nationality of these two countries. Rosberg won the 2005 GP2 Series for the ART team, having raced in Formula 3 Euro Series previously for his father Keke Rosberg's racing organisation Team Rosberg. For the 2010 Formula One season, Rosberg joined the re-branded Mercedes team, formed by Mercedes's takeover of 2009 constructors' champions Brawn GP. Since then, Rosberg has enjoyed his most successful period, winning 9 Grands Prix and earning 16 pole positions. His biggest career achievement was in 2014, when he finished second in the Formula One World Championship for Mercedes, behind his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. During the season he had five wins, fifteen podiums, eleven pole positions and fifteen front row starts. He kept his championship hopes alive until the final race, arriving with a 17 point deficit to Hamilton and although he qualified on pole position, problems with his car caused him to finish the race in 14th place, while Hamilton won the race and the championship. In the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Rosberg, having started from third, won the race by over 20 seconds; his father Keke had won the first Formula One Australian Grand Prix in 1985 in Adelaide. Daniel Ricciardo finished the race second, but was later disqualified for a fuel infringement, promoting Kevin Magnussen to second and his team mate Jenson Button to third. In Malaysia he finished 2nd, 17 seconds behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton, but in front of Sebastian Vettel to give Mercedes-Benz their first 1–2 since Italy in 1955. In Bahrain Rosberg took pole position but lost out to Hamilton at the start of the race, and eventually finished second to his team-mate, despite putting him under pressure numerous times. Rosberg said the race was "a day for the sport" considering the criticism that Formula One has had in 2014. In China he started fourth but fell back to sixth in the opening lap, however fought to finish second ahead of Fernando Alonso. As the season moved to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix, Rosberg was pipped to pole by Hamilton. Rosberg stayed with Hamilton for the whole race but could not get through, finishing 0.6 seconds behind him meaning Hamilton took the championship lead for the first time in 2014. In Monaco Rosberg took pole position, but a controversial one where he was investigated by the stewards after a suspected offence for causing a yellow flag incident. Hamilton believed Rosberg had made the mistake deliberately to secure pole but the stewards saw it as an accidental incident. Rosberg's lead extended by 18 points in Canada after he and Hamilton had MGU-K and brake issues, but forced Hamilton to retire and not Rosberg, finishing second. In Austria he won ahead of his teammate, and then took pole position at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, leading until lap 28 where his gearbox failed. At the next round in Germany, Rosberg took the 9th pole position of his career, where Hamilton suffered a brake failure in qualifying, and was forced to start from 20th. Rosberg then went on to take a comfortable victory by 20 seconds from Valtteri Bottas, increasing his lead over Hamilton to 14 points. Rosberg's victory was the first German Grand Prix win for a German driver at the wheel of a German car since Rudolf Caracciola also for Mercedes in 1939. In Hungary, Rosberg took pole position again and led the early stages of the race before a safety car period. For the majority of the race, Rosberg was unable to pass the cars of Jean-Éric Vergne and team-mate Hamilton; he ultimately finished fourth, behind Ricciardo, Alonso and Hamilton. In Belgium he collided with his teammate, putting Hamilton out of the race, while Rosberg finished second. At Monza he overtook Hamilton for the lead, but locked up under braking for the first chicane on lap 29, and was forced down the escape road. Hamilton overtook Rosberg as he was doing so, and went on to take the race win. Later in the race he suffered from technical difficulties with his car losing the ERS. Ultimately he finished 14th and lost the title to Hamilton, saying: "Lewis did a better job than me". He finished the season with career bests in wins (5), podiums (15), pole positions (11) and fastest laps, with 5. Rosberg's 2015 season began with a 2nd place to his teammate Lewis Hamilton in Australia and 3rd in Malaysia behind both Sebastian Vettel from Ferrari and Hamilton. Rosberg finished 2nd in China and 3rd in Bahrain after a brake failure. Rosberg claimed his first pole position of the season in Spain and followed it up with his first win of the season, his first in Spain and the ninth win of his career.

• published: 22 May 2015
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