When Formula 1 left Abu Dhabi at the end of last year it had crowned a new World Champion in Nico Rosberg, thus setting up a mouth-watering prospect for 2017, with Lewis Hamilton keen to re-claim the title from his friend-turned-adversary.
Just five days later, during an otherwise quiet Friday lunchtime, Rosberg dropped the bombshell that he had decided to walk away from the sport on top, thus leaving Formula 1 without its reigning champion for the first time since 1994.
He retained his links to Formula 1 through his role as an ambassador for Mercedes, having stunned even the manufacturer itself, after last year’s decision to extend contracts until 2018, following a protracted negotiation process.
Rosberg has already been keen to explore options outside of Formula 1, having ensconced himself within a bubble for over a decade, sticking to a rigorous timetable, going the extra mile and beyond just to finally achieve his dream of becoming champion.
And yet, just three days into the new season, the German arrived in the paddock at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before the cars had even hit the circuit at nine o’clock on a typically chilly morning.
Rosberg, whose absence across the previous two days barely registered with anyone, was soon centre stage for photographers, as he caught up with some of his former Mercedes engineers, posed for photos, and watched replacement Valtteri Bottas rack up laps in the W08, while revelling in the new ability to post videos to social media.
After an hour or so, it was off to the back of the garage to face selected TV crews, keen to catch up with the reigning champion.
“It’s good to be back,” he told the official Formula 1 website, looking understandably more refreshed than the jubilantly drained figure he cut upon his last paddock appearance.
“First of all, it’s great to see my racing family again, and there’s such massive hype at the moment so I wanted to see it first hand as well [and] see the new cars, they look absolutely monstrous, very very aggressive, and everybody is excited so that’s great to see.
“The drivers are loving it and I think this year they will be proper gladiators out there with these cars, because the cars will take them to their physical limits, and we might even see some drivers losing race wins because of being ‘game over’ physically and that’s what we need.”
Three months minus a day since his announcement, were there any feelings of regrets?
“I expected the team to be the best this year because the team is awesome,” he commented.
“I’m not saying that’s the case because we still need to wait and see but for sure it looks like they’ve done a good car but that’s no surprise.”
And then, almost as soon as he arrived, he was off to the Mercedes motorhome for a brief stint, via posing for photos with some fans, before leaving the circuit in the back of a chauffeur-driven car (naturally, for those inquisitive, a Mercedes), back off to explore wherever and whenever life takes him.
An hour or so later, Bottas shot to the top of the times with a 1:19.705, the quickest time at the circuit for almost a decade, as Mercedes continued to flex its muscles both in terms of pace and mileage, seamlessly carrying on as if nothing had changed…
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