Rosberg on possible meg adeal: 'Turned down 100 million dollars'

After finishing two seasons behind Lewis Hamilton in the battle for the world championship, Nico Rosberg managed to beat his teammate and title rival in 2016. Not much later, the German driver announced his retirement from Formula One.

Mega deal on the table

In The Times, Rosberg looks back at that decision to end his racing career shortly after winning the title. "I wanted to avoid being a driver from the past or a driver that nobody wants in his team anymore," Rosberg says. "There was a hundred million dollars on the table, which I turned down. I wanted a different life, you don't have a flexible life when you race. It was the best decision for my family, I didn't think about the money for a second."

Rosberg began his Formula One career in 2006 with Williams and switched to Mercedes in 2010. In 2012, he scored his first victory with the then not-so-dominant team. In 2013, he got childhood friend Lewis Hamilton as a teammate with whom he entered the title race for the first time in 2014. Rosberg loses the first two times, but in 2016 he manages to beat Hamilton.

Rivalry with Hamilton

In those years, the friendship between Rosberg and Hamilton turns into a hard rivalry. Of the friendship, almost nothing is left in 2016. "There were two sides: one was Nico's side and one was Lewis' side. All Lewis fans were against me, that's for sure. One time I saw two four-year-old girls with their parents and they booed me and gave me the thumbs down. The parents told them I was the bad guy and they should boo me."