Nico Rosberg: Aerodynamics, Music and Nuts

The Mercedes GP driver rose to the ranks of Formula One in 2006, won his first race in China in 2012 and finished second in 2013 Indian GP. FHM met the German behind the wheel to talk aerodynamics, music and nuts!

FHM: What did it feel like the first time you sat in a F1 car?

Read FHM India in the digital libraryEvery issue, every shoot, on TCG Media.

Nico Rosberg: At the time, I was driving a car that had 160 horsepower, like a Formula Ford car, so to go from that to an F1 car that had 920 horsepower was crazy! It was so fast, like going into a rocket. It was unbelievable and the problem was that it was so fast and I was so small and young that I didn’t physically have the strength to drive the car as fast as I could because the G-force was throwing me into the corner of the seat and I couldn’t see where I was going.

FHM: When you go from an F1 car to a road car, does it feel like you’re travelling in slow motion?

Nico Rosberg: It doesn’t feel strange or anything because it’s so different. I have a lot of respect for the F1 machines.

FHM: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in a car?

Nico Rosberg: I like to play with the car in the countryside. On a lake in Lapland last winter, we built a track on a lake and did some rallying there – it was fun and I competed against my dad. There’s a video of it on YouTube actually.

FHM: Who would win in a race between you and your Dad at his peak?

Nico Rosberg: I don’t want to compare. All I’ll say is that it would be a good battle between us. I wouldn’t like to say who would win...

FHM: How did your mother feel about you taking up motor racing?

Nico Rosberg: She gets scared when I’m in the car, so she’s never seen a race of mine. I think it’s worse if it’s your son racing rather than your husband. My dad never comes either. I think it’s a good thing and a wise decision for him to stay away and let me do my thing. It’s cool.

FHM: When you’re going around your home-town, do you get recognised?

Nico Rosberg: Well, I live in Monaco, so I do get recognised but it’s very relaxed and very nice. I like it there.

FHM: When you visit other places and get recognised, how do you handle the attention?

Nico Rosberg: Sometimes it’s nice and I’m happy to give things back to people if they’re excited about the sport, but in general, if I had a choice, I’d prefer to not be recognised. It can be more annoying than good, unfortunately. Though at this point, for me, it’s not a lot. It’s much tougher for someone like my old teammate Michael Schumacher.

FHM: What was it like having Schumacher as a teammate?

Nico Rosberg: It was a very interesting experience. It’s obvious why he’s won seven World titles and done a very good job. It was also very challenging to try and beat him. The bar was very high, but I’m happy that I still managed to be competitive with him.

FHM: Is it true that you were go-karting with Schumacher when you were 15?

Nico Rosberg: Yes, it was the World Championship! I came 3rd and Schumacher came 2nd. If we raced go-karts now, I don’t know who would win. I’d hope me! I was top of my game at 15 though, so it’s not like I’d be better now.

FHM: Do you have people in the paddock you would call friends?

Nico Rosberg: I don’t have friends in the paddock. I get on well with people but I don’t call them friends. A lot of my friends are from school and I was very lucky to have a very cool group of friends back then, so we’re still all in touch 10 years on and they still come to my races.

FHM: Do you like motorcycles?

Nico Rosberg: I like them, but I don’t go on motorbikes because I don’t like taking the risk. I think they’re very dangerous for me, as I know that if I go on a motorcycle I would want to go fast, so I stay away. But what I do like a lot is Motorcross in the mountains – it’s more about endurance and that’s fun. I don’t do it for the exercise, just for fun.

FHM: You were offered a place at London’s Imperial College to study aerodynamics, but you chose racing. Why?

Nico Rosberg: Because this is a lot more fun, more cool and way more exciting. Aerodynamics is the most important part of building an F1 car though. The guy doing aerodynamics is the one deciding how fast the car is really gonna go. And you can build a rocket ship, or an aeroplane, or whatever.

FHM: What’s your favourite track?

Nico Rosberg: My favourite track is probably Malaysia. It has a nice flow and a variety of corners.

FHM: Is it the toughest circuit too?

Nico Rosberg: Yes, because of the climate. Physically, the toughest circuit is Singapore. The hardest to drive is probably Monaco, it’s very challenging.

FHM: What’s your favourite country to race in?

Nico Rosberg: Italy, because I really like the way the people are. It’s the people I get on with best – a lot of my friends are Italian and I speak Italian.

FHM: Before a race, do you ever use music to get fired up?

Nico Rosberg: I used to, but now not so much. Before a race it would be something like U2’s Beautiful Day – that’s a cool track to get the right feeling.

FHM: Who was the last band you saw live?

Nico Rosberg: That was a long time ago. I had the opportunity to attend Kings Of Leon concert in Abu Dhabi during the grand prix weekend. I was just too lazy to go. But we ended up listening to them in the hotel room.

FHM: Do you use social media?

Nico Rosberg: Of course I do like Facebook and Twitter. My Twitter account is just me, I was trying to figure out the best way of saying ‘I’m a Mercedes GP driver’ without actually putting ‘I am the Mercedes GP driver’, so I said it was ‘linked to’, but it’s not actually linked in any way, it’s just me.

FHM: In a race, you have to remember around 20 corners very well. How’s your memory with day to day stuff? Can you memorise a shopping list?

Nico Rosberg: It’s not great. It is good, but it’s something that’s important to have for racing because when you drive and you come back to the pits you need to tell the engineers everything you experienced out there whilst you’re absolutely concentrating on driving well. You need a good memory to take in everything that’s happening and that’s a very challenging part. When you come in, you have to know everything and remember everything.

FHM: So when you go back to everyday life, do you just relax your brain as well?

Nico Rosberg: No. In fact, I even train it sometimes. I play Memory whilst training.

FHM: What was the last movie you saw?

Nico Rosberg: The Fighter. I like Christian Bale. He’s amazing, though I didn’t like the particular movie. All my friends said it would be amazing but I didn’t think it was that great. It’s okay, but I like Christian Bale in Batman. In my opinion, his performance was outstanding.

FHM: What about your favourite beer?

Nico Rosberg: Alcohol free beer! It’s the best drink after sports as it has all the minerals to rehydrate your body. I do drink sometimes when I go out though

FHM: What are the usual suspects in your fridge?

Nico Rosberg: Yoghurt, eggs, lots of veggies, lots of fruit, very healthy. I do order takeaway, sometimes. Not too often. For breakfast, I have either fruit and cereals, or eggs on toast.

FHM: Do you have a party trick?

Nico Rosberg: No. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari driver) can apparently crack nuts with his neck. He’s a magician too, so you need to be very careful around the Spaniard.

From the December 2013 issue of FHM India.