Rosberg admitted: without Lewis he would not have become world champion

Nico Rosberg was a special guest this week at the Slush business conference in Helsinki, dedicated to the problems of startups. Nico is the son of Keio Erik “Keke” Rosberg, the first Finnish world champion, but rarely visits Finland, and although he is fluent in several European languages, he has no Finnish in his arsenal.

Speaking to a very large international audience, the 2016 world champion explained why he once refused to continue his career in Formula 1, despite a very tempting contract offered by the Mercedes team. Instead, Rosberg Jr. chose decided to enter the investment world and founded his company, Rosberg Ventures.

His company invests money in projects focused on ecology and ‘green’ technologies. Furthermore, his team Rosberg X Racing is very successful in Extreme E and leads the off-road electric series with one race left in the season.

Nico, speaking about himself, emphasized that car racing was a logical choice for him, and when his friends continued their education at university, all he thought about was winning. Of course, his father supported him in every way possible.

“The older ones among you might remember him,” Nico said, causing laughter from the audience. “The desire to win in Formula 1 required absolutely insane concentration from me. In 2016 I limited all my contact with the outside world, I was only focused on my goal. I stopped using social networks and reading the press.

I have done everything I can to reduce the weight, both my own and the car’s, because every extra kilogram results in a loss of two to three hundredths of a second per lap. So I stopped eating ice cream, cut holes in the car seat, and even shortened my socks. I only used black racing helmets because this paint is lighter than others. I even stopped cycling when my leg muscles started to get bigger.”

Speaking about his relationship with Lewis Hamilton, Nico admitted that they had a friendship many years ago, but as the stakes grew in the championships they competed in together, it gave way to a rivalry that became increasingly irreconcilable. However, Rosberg noted that if it had not been for Lewis, he would not have been able to achieve much and would probably have become world champion.

After winning the title, Rosberg, unexpectedly for many, made the decision to end his career, rejecting the already agreed multi-year contract that promised him $100 million.

“My life and sanity were at stake,” Niko explained. “That’s why I calmly accepted the screams that were heard on my phone at that moment. My advice to everyone: use the right advisors. Personally, I sought advice from a psychologist for ten years, we communicated every other day, each session lasted two hours. It helped me deal with the pressure.”