Formula 1 2013 driver profile: Nico Rosberg

First F1 race: Bahrain Grand Prix, 2006
2012 points: 93
2012 best finish: 1
2012 championship position: 9

Nico Rosberg first met Lewis Hamilton when they were both just 12 years old, and both speak of their fond memories battling it out both on the track and the table tennis table. But competing in karting is one thing: working together as Mercedes teammates takes their relationship to a whole different level.

And Rosberg, who consistently had the beating of Michael Schumacher during his F1 comeback, is not the kind of driver to let Hamilton dictate the team.

An intelligent man who speaks five languages fluently and turned down a place to study Aeronautics at Imperial College London to pursue a career in motorsport, Rosberg is not your typical petrolhead.

His maiden Grand Prix victory in China last year, Mercedes’ first since 1955, was just reward for the German’s commitment to his sport. After all his father, 1982 F1 world champion Keke Rosberg, tried to convince him to do something other than motor racing, but Nico was not going to be dissuaded that easily.

How he and Hamilton’s relationship are managed by Mercedes will go a long way to determining Rosberg’s success this year, but it’s unfair on him to think that Hamilton will simply blow his teammate away. Can Rosberg prove he’s more than a solid number two?

2013 predictions: "It's always important to beat your team-mate. But my team-mate is one of the best, so how is that going to take pressure off?”

Did you know? Rosberg’s antics on a unicycle round the karting circuit as a kid convinced Hamilton to learn too. Even on one wheel they were competitive.

Follow @nico_rosberg

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