Nico Rosberg can pinpoint the precise moment he knew he would race in Formula One.
He was 10 years old and riding shotgun with his father, Keke, in an open-topped touring car. The elder Rosberg, a former F1 world champion, was performing a lap of honour at Hockenheim to mark the end of his career in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series and Nico had went with him.
"We were sat up there on the roof of the car, waving, and we both had these driver's overalls on, and there was me the Mini-Rosberg and my dad the Maxi-Rosberg," he told Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat shortly after winning the GP2 Series championship in 2005.
"The stands were full of people and the noise was deafening, it made you feel faint. I knew right then that one day I was going to be a successful driver, too."
"Maxi-Rosberg" won the Monaco Grand Prix in 1983 with Williams-Ford; "Mini-Rosberg" is this weekend hoping to do similar with Mercedes GP. But he refuses to add any additional importance to a race that is already high on his list of priorities.
"It would be great if we both won here," he said. "It would be special in its own way, without comparing it to my father in any way."
The reason it would be extra special for Rosberg, 25, is that while he was born in Germany to a Finnish father and German mother, he has lived in Monaco almost his entire life.
Rosberg speaks fluent German, French, Italian and English - and limited Finnish - and has said in the past that he has no sense of belonging to any one country. He prefers to label his nationality simply as "European". He drives under the German flag.
"The Monaco Grand Prix is always a thrilling weekend for me. It's my home race and to drive in front of my family and my friends is always very special," said Rosberg, who attended school in a building directly above the paddock in Monte Carlo. "The drive through the tunnel at 280 kph is always a real adventure - you are so close to the barriers that you can really feel how fast the cars actually are."
Rosberg has finished sixth in qualifying for the past three years and in 2009 converted his grid position into his best position at Circuit de Monaco: a sixth-place finish.
"Now it is time to make a big jump forward," he said as he targets a strong performance in today's qualifying session and tomorrow's 78-lap race.
"It is definitely possible as the qualifying from the past years I was quicker than where I eventually qualified, so if it all goes together, I think we will definitely be further forward. Then in the race, with a lot of pit-stops and everything this year with the tyres, anything is possible."
Recent performances, where he has outshone teammate Michael Schumacher, have left the paddock impressed, although he is still looking for that first race win after competing in 94 races.
Rosberg has out-qualified Schumacher in every race this season, and in 14 of last year's 19 races - a pretty dominant performance against the most successful driver in the history of F1.
Last season he became only the second driver to outscore Schumacher in the same car over a season, netting 142 points to his compatriot's 72.
To put Rosberg's achievement against Schumacher into context, the only other teammate of the seven-time world champion to beat him over a season was Eddie Irvine in 1999 when they were at Ferrari, and that year Schumacher missed seven races because of a broken leg.
"I see him on a par with [Sebastian] Vettel; all he lacks is a fast car," said Gerhard Berger, who worked with the reigning world champion Vettel in 2008, while at Toro Rosso.
In Barcelona last week Rosberg found himself behind his teammate and forced to challenge him on track.
Schumacher refused to relinquish his sixth place, but praised Rosberg's performance as they finished in sixth and seventh place.
"We had a couple of nice manoeuvres together, but I think we are both clever and smart enough to avoid collisions and still have fun on the track."
In Thursday's free practice, Rosberg again showed better pace than his teammate, finishing third fastest in both of the 90 minute sessions to give hope to a possible first appearance on the podium in the principality tomorrow afternoon.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Read more from Johann Chacko
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
SPECS
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WHAT%20START-UPS%20IS%20VISA%20SEEKING%3F
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THREE
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More on Quran memorisation:
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Match info
Bournemouth 1 (King 45 1')
Arsenal 2 (Lerma 30' og, Aubameyang 67')
Man of the Match: Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal)
Company%20Profile
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Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
How it works
Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.
As unruled land and soldiers are acquired, players must feed them. When a player comes up against land held by another army, they can choose to battle for supremacy.
A dice-based battle system is used and players can get the edge on their enemy with by deploying a renowned hero on the battlefield.
Players that lose battles and land will find their coffers dwindle and troops go hungry. The end goal? Global domination of course.
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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