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Nico Rosberg announces surprise retirement from Formula One


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Valtteri Bottas visited Mercedes factory before Christmas

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Valtteri Bottas visited the Mercedes factory before Christmas, giving the firmest indication yet that he is set to fill Nico Rosberg's vacant seat.

Bottas has emerged as the frontrunner to replace the retired 2016 world champion, with Williams agreeing a deal to bring back Felipe Massa before Christmas to take the Finn's seat. Mercedes has delayed an announcement until January 3 at the earliest but, according to a Motorsport.com report, Bottas visited the factory in the days leading up to December 25.

The report suggests Bottas visited the factory to try out the cockpit of the team's 2017 car and to help plan his seating position, as well as running through technical preparations with the engineers he could work with next year. It suggests Mercedes is already preparing for life with Bottas for the new campaign.

The confirmation of who will partner Lewis Hamilton would likely lead to the other pieces of the driver puzzle falling into place, as Sauber stalled talks with Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein after Rosberg's announcement. Wehrlein's limited F1 experience, which tallies as just 21 races with Manor last year, likely counted against him when Mercedes was considering Rosberg's replacement. Manor remains the only other team with empty seats, though is unlikely to confirm drivers until nearer to winter testing.

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He retired to spend more time with his family.  The 2016 F1 schedule had 20 races.  If his reason for retiring is correct, a 36 race schedule in NASCAR wouldn't make too much sense for him to come to this series.  Another consideration is that the open wheel racers have not fared well in NASCAR.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Williams expecting Valtteri Bottas announcement this week

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Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams says an announcement about Valtteri Bottas' future is likely to be made in the coming week.

Bottas is expected to move from Williams to Mercedes in order to fill the vacant seat left by reigning champion Nico Rosberg, who announced his retirement at the end of 2016. Williams has been seeking substantial remuneration in return for releasing Bottas from his 2017 contract, and it looks as though a deal will be confirmed in the next week.

"It has been dragging on and I think everyone wants to know, probably more who is going to be Lewis [Hamilton's] team-mate next year, and of course whenever Nico made his announcement we knew the call was probably going to come from Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team boss]," Williams told Sky Sports. "It is a great opportunity for Valtteri and he has given a lot to Williams. We've always said if we can make this happen on terms that are positive for Williams then it is probably the right thing to do.

"No-one needs or wants a driver in your team that really wants to be somewhere else. It is not nice either to stop a driver who has such a great opportunity, particularly at this point of Valtteri's career, but it has to work for Williams and that is what we've been working hard on over the past six weeks. We are nearly there, we are at the tail end of it and hopefully we'll be able to make an announcement this coming week.

"But it has to be right for Williams, whatever we do will always be the right decision for Williams no matter what other people's opinions might be."

Brazilian Felipe Massa is ready to postpone his retirement in order to fill the gap left by Bottas and complete the team's 2017 line-up alongside rookie Lance Stroll. Despite the complete u-turn on his retirement plans, Williams has no doubt that Massa is fully motivated for 2017.

"Felipe's heart has always been in our sport," she added. "Everyone said that about him when he joined us, 'surely his time in F1 is over, he petered out at the end of his years at Ferrari', but he came to Williams and it seemed to be a great culture for him and he was a new driver.

"I don't think he necessarily wanted to leave the sport and he did say he wanted to continue racing. These guys have been racing since they were six years old and it is in their DNA, that is what they do.

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Nico Rosberg: There's more to life than driving in circles

 

Nico Rosberg has given some insight into what he will do in the future after admitting "life has more to offer than driving around in circles".

Rosberg retired as reigning world champion at the end of last year, deciding against defending his title in 2017. Speaking about the decision on stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said he was looking forward to the freedom his retirement would offer.

"First of all, to do sport at the highest level it is really 110 percent focus that is required and there is no room for any compromise whatsoever, at least that's the way I went about it. Everything else is secondary and so far behind and that's even family -- I have a one and half year old daughter now -- it's friends and any exciting and fun projects, everything is way, way behind [in your priorities].

"So there's a time for everything and I find that life has more to offer than driving around in circles and it just felt like the right moment. I want to go for new challenges. Of course there is the matter of having more time for family, more time for friends and being in control of my whole life as well. Since I was a 10 year old the whole season is planned by other people, telling you where you need to be and especially in F1 -- its really, really intense. And now I have this complete freedom."

Rosberg will continue as an ambassador with Mercedes, but also hinted at some of the charitable work he would like to become involved in.

"One of the avenues that I want to go down is to give something back. Find something that really touches my heart, so I'm going to go exploring different avenues. I'm going to go to Germany and visit children who are really quite ill, especially of the age of children who are really happy to see me and give them a great time.

"Renewable energy could be quite interesting, there are so many things and opportunities - electric car for example, I had a Tesla as a taxi the other day in Switzerland so it's quite impressive we have come that far."

Rosberg also revealed how his study of philosophy had given him extra strength while fighting for the title.

"It's the same for actors, for singer, even for politicians. I think it's a challenge because you get put up on a pedestal by so many people around the world when you're doing good things in your environment and it can sometimes be a bit difficult to cope with that. I think that's why we see so many singers and actors, especially, losing the plot and going a bit off the rails.

"But I think every person has to go about it in his own way, and I have definitely struggled with that at times but managed to find my way with it. I've studied philosophy for ten years and that has been a huge benefit because every little issue, suffering or doubt you have, there has been someone in the past who has had exactly that same thing -- and there's been a genius in the past who has had exactly that same thing and has been able to write it down to make it really understandable.

"So you learn [to understand] why am I jealous, why am I now angry, why do I have fear, why am I scared, why am I nervous. You really lean to understand all of that. You can't switch off all those emotions, that's impossible, but you can change the way you act once you get them. Because if you understand why you have it you can change your action and your reaction afterwards, and that can have a huge snowball effect as a person in your life."

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