Nico Rosberg

How often do you see a good driver in a not-so-good car? Well, Williams gave Nico a seat for the 2006 season, backing the German driver; the season saw Nico registering 9 non-finishers out of 18 races. Although, Nico has had quite a start to his racing career in the Formula BMW, finishing top in his rookie season, his Formula 1 career did not start quite as well. His dreams have now found a new believer in Mercedes GP, who has awarded Nico the race seat alongside seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher. Mercedes GP, making a re-entry into Formula 1 after a long sabbatical, will be a much more formidable force behind the German, providing the best of technology and manpower support. With Ross Brawn staying over after the Mercedes GP-Brawn GP takeover, this was Nico’s chance to claim his place in F1. What better way to do so than to out perform his team mate, the seven time world champion.

When your father is a former World Champion, what are the chances you will make it to the sport too? Very high, indeed! But chances of success in the sport are not guaranteed. Nico Rosberg surely knows that. Although Keke was a Finn, Nico races under the German flag thanks to his mother's nationality.

Nico started his career with karting in 1996 at the age of just 11. He then made the move up to German Formula BMW in 2002 and was the youngest ever to drive a Formula 1 car when at 18, he test drove for Williams BMW.

That motor sport is in his blood was proved beyond doubt when he scored the highest ever in an 'Engineering Aptitude Test' that is now a must for all new Williams drivers. Nico was soon confirmed as a driver for the 2006 season. And he shone in just his first race.

Driving in the opening GP of the year in Bahrain, he recorded the fastest lap in a car that was thought not good enough to make the points. Rosberg not only made the points, but also sent out a message that was loud and clear. He managed only one mere point finish in the year in the European GP by when the car's reliability had given way. He had to retire from half the races he started. But 4 points in a bad car for a rookie season isn't too bad.

Although a lot of hopes rest on him and he is quietly confident of his chances, he chooses to remain firmly grounded. "The good old days are damn good old days and in F1 you cannot normally just jump back to the front from one year to the next," he says.

2007 may not have been the best debut, but 2008 saw Rosberg come into his own and put up some great performances despite a sub-par car at his disposal. A third-place finish in Australia raised hopes, but the car soon came through on its lack of promise and held Rosberg back. Another podium finish in Singapore did highlight the capability of this young driver, but 13 races had passed in between and just three had yielded points.

The 2009 season saw technical advances in the car, but it was still struggling in the high-speed corners amongst other niggling concerns. Nico had clearly stated that unless Williams shows a good enough progress, he shall shift to some other team. Nico registered 34.5 points finishing fourth in Germany and Hungary. The car was reliably stable, but compensated on the speed and agility. Finishing 7th overall in the drivers Championship Standings, Nico was not a very happy man.

Mercedes GP now steps in to intervene in the jerky, flash-in-the-pan racing prowess of Nico Rosberg and hopes to bank on his obvious strengths. Mercedes has always been renowned for their eagle-eye for talent and after nurturing talents like Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, they hoped that Nico Rosberg can prove all his critics wrong and will be able to at last unleash his full potential.

He did that and more when he made Michael Schumacher, the seven time world champion look like a novice, outperforming him in almost all races scoring almost twice. As 2011 draws near, he looks like a future world champion in the making and ready to take Mercedes GP to great heights.