Nico Rosberg, the son of former world champion, Keke Rosberg, made his debut in Bahrain this year for the Williams F1 team. Williams knew they were taking a huge risk by hiring a twenty year old youngster to drive for them in his very first season. But the young driver surprised everyone as he finished in a respectable seventh place and also set the fastest lap of the race. Since then, Nico Rosberg has put in impressive performances to make him the clear rookie of the year, overshadowing Scott Speed and Yuji Ide by a mile. McLaren have already shown interest in the young driver and will be eager to poach him out of Williams. But Nico insists that he wants to stay at Williams, if possible.
The phenomenal sucess of young Nico Rosberg has prompted Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s commercial rights holder, to proclaim that not only is Nico the next superstar, but other young turks are ready to join F1 as well. Heeding his call, McLaren and Renault have hired young drivers like Gary Paffett and Heikki Kolvaleinen to be their reserve drivers for 2006. McLaren have also shown interest in their long time protege Lewis Hamilton. McLaren are really upping the ante for ushering in new drivers into F1, a change that is clearly for the better. Giancarlo Fisichella has dropped major hints that Heikki Kolvaleinen will drive along side him next year in the renault race car. Formula One is being blooded with new superstars and even top-rung teams now believe that giving youngsters a chance is the way to go.
So, what should we expect in 2007? Will Nico Rosberg stay at Williams? Will he stay in F1 at all? Will new drivers make their mark in 2007, leaving their more experienced counterparts panting for breath? As regards the last question, Nico Rosberg has been successful in outracing the experienced Mark Webber on quite a few occassions.
But the youth revolution in F1 has made an impact on co-drivers as well. When Mark Webber was asked whether he will help and guide young Nico in the cut-throat world of F1, he said: "This is not a finishing school. I will try to be ahead of Nico at all times in the race." Juan Pablo Montoya, former superstar, is now being made to eat humble pie with his alleged shift to Red Bull because McLaren are vying for a young driver and Montoya, at thirty, does not fit that description.
So whatever happens, expect to see quite a number of young faces on the grid in 2007, that too sitting in top cars and driving for top teams.
BACK TO NICO ROSBERG
Birthday - June 27, 1985
Nationality- Finnish (its amazing how many of F1’s drivers come from this small country)
Junior series- 2005 GP2 World Champion
Another achievement that he has under his belt is more academic than anything else. In Williams’ Engineering Aptitude Test, he captured the highest ever score. Frank Williams and patrick Head, major authority in the Williams Team, are impressed with Nico and it is almost certain that this young driver is headed for greatness................
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