Nico Rosberg retired from Formula 1 in 2016 at the peak of his career. In the Extreme E off-road series, the former world champion has been extremely successful with his team Rosberg X Racing for the past two years. Is he possibly returning to the premier class?
“Many people have asked me if I don’t want to become team boss in a Formula 1 team at some point, since the Extreme E is going so incredibly well. My answer is clearly: no,” Nico Rosberg said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper “AS” unmistakably clear. Rosberg’s RXR team had won the title in 2021, this year the second coup was missed by a very small margin.
Why Rosberg now prefers the electric racing series to Formula 1 is obvious: “You know, at the moment we have five races a year and Formula 1 has 24 races a year, so it’s a full-time commitment. At the world championship there are very little space to spend time with family and friends.”
Rosberg loses championship race to Hamilton’s team
He’s lived life as a racer long enough, “I never want to do that again now. That intensity, that dedication, that lack of flexibility in life… I love my life now and that means I’ll never have a full-time job in the Formula 1 could have.”
For his team, the season ended last weekend after a real roller coaster ride with a damper. With his two Swedish drivers Johan Kristoffersson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky only finishing fifth in the last race in Uruguay, RXR was caught in the overall standings by British team X44. This was founded by the seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, of all people, with whom Nico Rosberg once drove at Mercedes.
French rally star Sébastien Loeb and Spaniard Cristina Gutiérrez drive for Hamilton. Above all, the 31-year-old Gutiérrez is a “fantastic driver”, Rosberg confessed. Gutiérrez would also be the one the ex-pilot would like to have in his team if he were free to choose a female pilot.
“A bitter end to our title dreams, but second place is also something to be proud of,” the team said in a statement on Twitter: “Congratulations to X44!”