Vettel clear he’s staying at Ferrari

Nico Rosberg, who recently shocked the world by announcing his retirement, has revealed that he would have remained in Formula 1 for the next season had he not won this year’s World title.

Nico Rosberg said it was “mission accomplished” as the German star received his Formula One world championship trophy on Friday, just hours after he stunned sport by deciding to quit.

“It took me completely by surprise and saw some board members and Niki [Lauda], and they were equally surprised”.

Hamilton, a three-time world champion, has said he “doesn’t care” who is picked as the German’s replacement.

“I was surprised by the announcement [from Rosberg]”, he said. ‘Nico, ‘ I told him.

Mercedes say that they have “drawn a line” under Lewis Hamilton’s controversial driving in the Abu Dhabi finale.

It’s unclear if their notably sour relationship has anything to do with Rosberg’s decision to retire, as he had been signed with Mercedes through the 2018 season.

Former world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso could be the potential candidates to fill the void, whereas young prodigy Max Verstappen is also among the top of their wishlist. Others think F1 debutant and Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein (who is now driving for Manor) should replace Rosberg as he’s paid his dues.

Team boss Toto Wolff said the search would start on Monday, with a decision expected by the end of 2016.

“We started out when we were 13 and we’d always talked about being champions”.

“This is a courageous decision by Nico and testament to the strength of his character”, Wolff said in a team statement. Nico followed in his F1 World Champion father’s footsteps by pursuing a career in F1.

“The clarity of his judgement meant I accepted his decision straight away when he told me”. The 2015 DTM champion took part in his debut season with Manor this year and completed more test days for Mercedes than any other driver, including a series of development tests on Pirelli’s 2017 tyres. The son of Finnish 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg, he ended his 18-year racing career at its peak. Through the hard work, the pain, this has been my target.

“I want to take the opportunity to announce that I have made a decision to end my Formula 1 career in this moment here”, he said.

“It doesn’t matter who they put alongside me. I love racing and want to continue”, he said. At first I didn’t believe him.