Nico Rosberg blasted for having “no passion for racing” by former F1 champ following his retirement decision after beating Lewis Hamilton

Former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve slammed Nico Rosberg over the latter's lack of passing for racing. Criticising the 2016 F1 champion, Villeneuve pointed out how Rosberg "doesn't care" about racing after the latter retired from the sport at the end of 2016.

Rosberg raced in Formula 1 for 11 years, where he won a championship, won 23 races and claimed 57 podiums. Even though he raced for multiple teams, his stint with Mercedes and his fierce rivalry with Lewis Hamilton are quite renowned. However, Rosberg retired at a very young age, the same year when he won the title.

The German former driver was in a tough title battle with Lewis Hamilton from 2014, a three-season-long battle that ended in 2016. Hamilton emerged victorious twice in 2014 and 2015, while Rosberg ended up winning in 2016.

Soon after he won, Rosberg retired from the sport and has since served as an F1 expert on multiple TV channels. However, this wasn't something that impressed Villeneuve, as he went on to slam the 2016 champion. Here's what he said about it:

"Rosberg? The minute he won, you could see he was completely spent. He won mentally over Hamilton because he played the game. He played the political game. He was quick in that season against Lewis, but Lewis never saw it coming so we didn’t see the best Lewis."

“And the minute he won, he gave up. So you could tell that he had no passion for racing. And every time I see him, he doesn’t miss racing. He really doesn’t care about racing. All he was wanting to do was win a championship like his dad and then move on. Something strange," he added. (via PlanetF1)

Rosberg made his debut in 2006 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, and his last race was the 2016 Abu Dhabi GP. Mercedes replaced Nico Rosberg with Valtteri Bottas in 2017 to put him alongside Lewis Hamilton.

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When Nico Rosberg revealed why he retired at the end of 2016

Nico Rosberg of Germany and Mercedes GP celebrates winning the F1 World Drivers Championship with Mercedes GP staff on December 1, 2016 in Brackley, England. - Source: Getty Images

Back in 2023, Nico Rosberg unraveled why he retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2016. Speaking about this to Men's Health, here's what the German former driver said:

“[I was] afraid that at some point I wouldn’t be good enough and that no team would want me anymore. I wanted to decide for myself. That’s all we can do, it’s perfect. The end.”

Nico Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton by five points in 2016. Rosberg had 385 points, nine wins and 16 podiums, compared to the latter's 380 points, 10 wins and 17 podiums.