Nico Rosberg

Rosberg, son of 1982 F1 World Champion, Keke Rosberg, is expected to do well with Mercedes. Nico is also pretty excited about the deal, saying:

“I am really happy to be a part of the Silver Arrows re-launch in 2010 as a driver for Mercedes…No other brand in Formula One can look back on such a long and successful tradition in motor racing.

“I am very proud that I will now drive for the new Mercedes team and work with Ross Brawn (team principal). I am more motivated than ever and can hardly wait to start testing with the new Silver Arrow and for the first race of the new season at Bahrain on 14 March 2010,” Rosberg said.

Ross Brawn also welcomes Rosberg with kind words. According to Brawn:

“We are delighted to welcome Nico Rosberg to our Mercedes team and are very much looking forward to working with him. Nico is a great talent, and with four years of experience in Formula One, is a driver who will be able to make a valuable contribution to our team right from the outset.

“I had the pleasure of working for his father Keke during his Formula One career and it is great to see Nico following his footsteps. 2009 was Nico’s best season in Formula One to date and we look forward to seeing his development continue with us at Mercedes next year,” Brawn added.

Source: Formula1.com

Image: Telegraph.co.uk

For this post, we’ll be covering the Formula One World Driver’s Championship winners from 1981 to 1984. We’re going to be seeing a lot of F1 daddies and uncles in this section–unfortunately, their young may still have a long road ahead of them before they reach the top.

Let’s start with one F1 daddy whose son is quickly following his footsteps. The 1981 World Champion–Nelson Piquet.

1981 Formula One World Champion

Name: Nelson Piquet (Nelson Piquet Souto Maior)

Nationality: Brazilian

Team: Brabham Racing

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 3

Race Wins: 23

Races: 207, with 204 starts

Podium Finishes: 60

Pole Positions: 24

Fastest Laps Set: 23

Brief Bio:

Born: August 17, 1952

Nelson Piquet has won three Formula One World Driver’s Championships during his 13-year stay in F1. He joins the ranks of the few drivers who managed to win at least three championships in F1. Other skilled drivers who are a part of this category include Ayrton Senna, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, and Juan Manuel Fangio.

Piquet started out with go-karting in Brazil. He was the national champion from 1971 to 1972. He later participated in the 1976 Formula Super Vee championship, thanks to the urging of the first Brazilian Formula One World Champion, Emerson Fittipaldi.

In 1978, Piquet managed to break Jackie Stewart’s records for the most wins in one season when he joined the British Formula 3. Nelson Piquet was instantly hailed as a motor racing prodigy.

His son, Nelson Angelo Piquet, is now racing for Renault, alongside Fernando Alonso.

Piquet Sr. became a part of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in the year 2000.

Aside from being a serious car racer, Piquet is also a pretty successful businessman. Piquet founded Autotrac in 1994. This company tracks customer trucks using GPS Tracking. It also provides mobile data messaging services.

In 2000, Piquet also founded his own racing team, Piquet Sports, mostly as a way to help Nelson Piquet, Jr. participate in the sport.

1982 Formula One World Champion

Name: Keke Rosberg (Keiko Erik Rosberg)

Nationality: Finnish

Team: Williams

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1

Race Wins: 5

Races: 128, with 114 starts

Podium Finishes: 17

Pole Positions: 5

Fastest Laps Set: 3

Brief Bio:

Born: December 6, 1948

Hometown: Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden

Keke Rosberg is the first Finnish F1 driver to have ever competed in Formula One at a regular basis throughout the series.

Rosberg actually had a late F1 start, debuting at 29 years of age. He had stints in Formula Atlantic, Formula Pacific, Formula 2, and Formula Vee before he ventured into Formula One. He started driving under the Theodore team in the 1978 F1 season–although he wasn’t a regular driver yet.

When his stint at Theodore didn’t work out, he joined the Wolf team in the middle of the 1979 F1 season. The team had difficulties with its car, and Rosberg had problems finishing his races. When Wolf left F1, he signed with Fittipaldi Automotive. He scored just two points in 1980, but failed to score at all in 1981.

In spite of all this, Williams saw Rosberg’s true potential and still wanted to sign him. Alan Jones had just retired and his seat was up for grabs. Rosberg was given Jones’ seat, and Keke certainly proved himself worthy. Points-wise, he was consistent. It was definitely his best year. While he didn’t win all the races, his remarkably consistent performance landed him the driver’s championship.

Unfortunately for Rosberg, immediately after his victory, an unreliable Williams chassis and a problematic (at least until 1985) but powerful Honda engine kept failing him, resulting in subpar performance from the driver. Rosberg left F1 in 1986.

Three years later, Rosberg re-entered the racing world, participating in the Spa 24 Hours. He achieved relative success in this field. He later moved on to the German Touring Car Championship.

In 1995, the Finnish driver created his own racing team, Team Rosberg. He also managed the future world champion Mika Häkkinen, Jyrki Järvilehto, and his own son Nico Rosberg.

Daddy Rosberg must be proud to have his son Nico now driving for Williams. The same team where he first tasted Formula One victory.

1983 Formula One World Champion

Name: Nelson Piquet

Nationality: Brazilian

Team: Brabham

(Scroll Up to read more about Nelson Piquet)

1984 Formula One World Champion

Name: Niki Lauda (Andreas Nikolaus “Niki” Lauda)

Nationality: Austrian

Team: McLaren

(Click HERE to read more about Niki Lauda)

Sources: A LOT of Wikipedia still Useful site!