Now that the news has set in that Nico Rosberg will indeed retire, just five days after clinching his first career Formula One World Championship, the initial shock can begin to give way to reflection. If this truly is the end for Rosberg, just 31 years old, it’s an end that serves to remind us of the exhausting toll it takes to become champion in a sport that demands every ounce of strength and stamina, and of the importance of maintaining your life away from competition.
And of the fact that he was an absolute monster on the track for more than a decade.