Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Special feature - 100 Grand Prix for Mercedes and counting for Rosberg

(Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team)

Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s Nico Rosberg celebrated his 100th Grand Prix for the reigning world champions at the Bahrain Grand Prix last time out.

The German has been with the Silver Arrows since day one when Mercedes bought the Brawn GP ahead of the 2010 season. Rosberg joined the team alongside seven time world champion Michael Schumacher.

In 2012, Rosberg took not only his maiden Formula One pole position but also his first Grand Prix victory both of which came at the Chinese Grand Prix. The following season saw Schumacher retire from Formula One for the final time with Lewis Hamilton moving to the Brackley based outfit from McLaren.

At the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix (classed as his home race, having been brought up in Monte Carlo) Rosberg took pole position and went on to win the race. The German went on to take victory at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone.

The 2014 season proved to be a breakthrough year for Nico as he kicked off the season in style taking victory in the season opener at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. He followed this up with a second place finish just behind Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton resulting in the Silver Arrows first 1-2 finish since 1955.
Rosberg went on to dominate the season with team mate Lewis Hamilton with the pair claiming all put three Grand Prix victories. The German finished the season runner up to Hamilton in the championship following a disappointing season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The 2015 season started with a second place finish in Australia behind Lewis Hamilton. In Malaysia the German finished the race in third place while in China he finished the race runner up to Hamilton once again. Rosberg celebrated his 100th Grand Prix in Bahrain with a third place finish and heads to the to the European leg of the season in Barcelona in two weeks in second place, 33 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton.

© Ben Johnston 2015

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