Nico Rosberg shocked the world of F1 when he retired just after clinching the 2016 Driver’s Championship following a season-long battle against his then-Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
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The German has since moved onto other things, such as F1 punditry, investing in a number of “green” projects and, most recently, launching an Extreme E racing team.
However, in a recent interview, Rosberg emphasised that a return to racing – in Formula One or any other professional racing series – isn’t on the cards.
“My active career is over. First of all, I don’t want to be a racing driver anymore because my new life as a sustainability entrepreneur is very fulfilling,” Nico Rosberg said this week.
“Second, it is also the lack of off-road experience. I would have to practice so much until I get to the level that is required in Extreme E.
“There are the top off-road drivers in the world. I want to win as a team, so it was also important to me to find the best drivers in the world. I did it, I think.”
Continuing, he said he remains in touch with the Mercedes F1 Team until this day but reiterated that racing with the German automaker in any series would compromise his flexibility:
“Mercedes has always been my racing family, of course. That’s why there is still a close connection.
“My problem is that I want to keep my current flexibility. A championship year in Formula E would be too intense and uncompromising for me today.
“I would lose my flexibility because there are a lot more races than with Extreme E.
“And that’s the nice thing about it – the program is not that intensive but the sustainability component is even greater. That’s why it suits me even better than Formula E,” Rosberg explained.
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