Nico Rosberg has ‘no passion for racing’ as fellow Sky F1 pundit takes aim

Nico Rosberg’s decision to retire after beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the F1 2016 title proved he has “no passion for racing.”

That is the opinion of Rosberg’s fellow Sky F1 pundit and 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, who said the German’s call to walk away went his racing instincts.

Jacques Villeneuve: Nico Rosberg ‘really doesn’t care about racing’

Rosberg clinched the World Championship at a nailbiting decider in Abu Dhabi in 2016, following in the footsteps of his father and 1982 title winner Keke.

His triumph saw the Rosbergs become only the second father-son duo in F1 history to be crowned World Champion after Graham and Damon Hill.

Rosberg shocked the world by announcing his retirement from F1 five days later, just hours before receiving the World Championship trophy at the FIA’s annual prize-giving ceremony.

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Mercedes eventually signed Valtteri Bottas as Rosberg’s replacement, opening the door for Hamilton to storm to four consecutive titles from 2017 to equal Michael Schumacher’s long-standing record of seven World Championships in 2020.

Rosberg, who turned 40 in June, is now an entrepreneur as well as acting as a regular Formula 1 pundit for Sky F1.

Appearing on the Red Flags podcast, Villeneuve argued that Rosberg’s call to walk away rather than defend his title proved that his passion for racing was lacking.

He said: “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 did manage to win a championship but then he didn’t want it anymore. Didn’t want to hold a steering wheel anymore.”

Villeneuve, the son of Ferrari icon Gilles, went on to admit that he struggles to understand the outlook of a driver like Rosberg, describing his decision to stop as “a bit sad.”

He added: “I have a hard time with this because you wonder: ‘Why have you been racing anyway? Why did you race in the first place if you never had the passion?’

“And what’s sad is even without that passion, you can still, once in a while, have a winner.

“That just goes against my instinct, against the roots of racing.

“But it happened. There’s been a few [drivers who’ve retired after winning the title].

“But often it’s only after winning that you realise: ‘Why were you doing it?’

“And then you think: ‘Actually, I don’t like racing that much. I don’t like spending all my life on the road and so on.’

“It’s better to stop at that point, but it’s a bit sad.”

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