2016 Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg has revealed that he received an offer to race in Formula E, on the same night he retired from F1.
Rosberg iconically retired from F1 on the same night that he beat Lewis Hamilton to the 2016 crown, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Whilst the German rejected the move to Formula E due to the timing of it, he’s since gone onto become a shareholder of the all-electric series.
The ex-F1 driver became a Formula E shareholder in 2018 and has driven the Gen2 machinery, which was replaced by the Gen3 cars for season nine (2022/23). But why did he opt to invest in the championship?
Rosberg is a huge fan of where the races take place, as being in major cities across the globe, the events are “much more accessible for families”. Whilst 41 per cent of the season 10 calendar consists of purpose-built circuits, a Tokyo street race has been added. As well as being easier for families to get to, Formula E is also a cheaper sport to attend than the likes of F1.
Formula E is also returning to Hyderabad, after working incredibly hard with the Indian government to run the event again. At the inaugural Hyderabad E-Prix in February earlier this year, Formula E became the first FIA-governed series since F1 in 2013 to race in India.
The all-electric series is just growing as a whole, with the championship now having the fourth-biggest motorsport fan base in the world, after overtaking NASCAR. Formula E also has six powertrain suppliers in total, two more than F1.
Rosberg points out, though, that F1 and Formula E aren’t rivals, with him simply being impressed that the championship is just “continuously progressing”.
“[Formula E] is continuously progressing,” Rosberg told Sports Illustrated. “It’s opening to new cities with Tokyo coming in Season 10, and they raced in India and South Africa, all these great places.
“The unique thing for me is that you go to the people, because you race downtown and make it much more accessible for families. It coexists with F1. It’s not a rival, and it’s been growing well. There are a lot of car manufacturers involved, the fan base is growing and the quality of drivers has been steadily on the rise.
“We’ve seen drivers go from Formula E to F1, even and vice versa.”
As for his offer to join the series, he admits that it was his wife who received it. Rosberg ultimately rejected it as he didn’t want to “get started again straight away” after only just announcing his retirement.
“On the night of my retirement, I got offered to drive in Formula E,” Rosberg revealed. ”Actually the offer went to my wife, and then she told me! But anyways, that was a decline, because obviously, I just stopped racing and didn’t want to get started again straight away.”
