Nico Rosberg: A tribute

Defeated world championship contender Nico Rosberg has admitted that the new world champion Lewis Hamilton was “that little bit better” this season and congratulated him on his win. All throughout the season that had its ups and downs, Nico Rosberg had all to do to stay in touching distance with his team-mate who was considered by many as the quickest driver in Formula One. But as the season started, it all became evident, that this season would be a long one, and an intra-team battle between Lewis and Nico.

The Mercedes was outright, the quickest car in F1 in 2014, with nobody coming close to challenging them. Many people had the notion that Lewis would walk away with the title since he was a superior driver than Nico, though this was not the case.

From the season opening race in Australia, to the last race in Abu Dhabi, it had been a ding dong rivalry between the two, which many people had not expected. It turned out to be extremely exciting. In decades to come, statistic junkies pouring over the record books are likely to wonder what the fuss was all about. Hamilton was crowned champion by a margin of 67 points after he had claimed his 11th victory of the year to just five for Rosberg.

But there has barely been a tyre’s width between the two title protagonists all year, with Rosberg’s refusal to retire from Sunday’s race typical of his fighting spirit throughout a riveting campaign. Inspite of having an Energy Recovery System (ERS) problem, he refused to back down and continued to race, in a manner, which maybe, defined his season. He might have won a few fans over after that race.

His drives in China, Russia where he had his races compromised, owing to bad starts, were just stunning. Overtaking car after car, he made his way all the way up field, only to finish behind his team mate. Probably, the result of the season was in Brazil, where the pressure was enormous. Having taken pole position, the race was going to be an uphill struggle, considering Lewis was quicker on race pace all weekend. But he held on against all odds, and lived to fight another day.

The pair have had some tense moments this year, particularly after qualifying in Monaco and after the collision in Spa, for which Rosberg was blamed by the team, But nothing should be taken away from the fact, that he unexpectedly, fought all the way till the last race, for the championship. Surprisingly, he even superceded his faster team mate, 11 to 7, which showed how quick he really was on a Saturday. If only, he had converted most of the poles to victories,then we would be saying different things.

The most important thing of all that, he was extremely gracious in defeat. Calling Lewis Hamilton as a deserved World Champion was a classy gesture. Rosberg embraced Hamilton ahead of the podium ceremony in a sign that the friends-turned-title-foes are ready to bury the hatchet after a year dogged by mistrust and icy animosity. For all of Nico’s problems, had led the championship by 29 points at a point in the season, only for it to disintegrate in the latter parts of the season.

He might not be as good as his team-mate, but having witnessed a season, that will go down in the history books, there is not a single person, who wouldn’t agree with the fact, that Nico Rosberg is a fantastic racer, and an unbelievable talent. Lewis Hamilton called him an “incredible competitor”. Now that this season is done and dusted, we are sure to expect an even fired up Nico Rosberg in 2015.