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The Williams team confirmed today the signing of German Nico Rosberg as their second driver for 2006.

The 20 year old was a test driver for Williams and recently won the GP2 Championship.
Nico made his Formula One debut with WilliamsF1 at the age of 17 in a one-off test in 2002 making him the youngest driver in history to pilot a Formula One car.

Nico Rosberg is the son of Keke Rosberg who won the 1982 Formula 1 World Championship with Williams running a Ford Cosworth!

Team Principal Frank Williams said:

I believe I am one of many in Formula One who is genuinely excited about the prospect of Nico Rosberg. Given the attention he commands, I am delighted he has signed with us for next season.

Nico Rosberg said:

For quite a few years, I kept a number of options open, such as continuing my education, but this announcement is the validation after ten years of racing that I have chosen the right direction. Winning the GP2 title this season, especially given the competition, was a satisfying achievement, but of course this development is the crowning glory of a great year. I am really looking forward to starting work at the end of this month and learning as much from the team as I possibly can.

Nico will be testing for the team at the end of November at Barcelona making the debut run of the V8 Cosworth.

The seat at Williams became available after Williams and Button reached a deal allowing Button to stay at BAR.

Nico Rosberg will partner Australian Mark Webber

Full Williams Statement

I think Pizzonia handed Rosberg the seat after his mediocre performances at Japan and China.

Rosberg seems to be highly rated and won the GP2 championship in front of Kovailinen (who is apparently very good and Briatore managed ).

It sounds like Sir Frank is hoping for history to repeat itself!!

JayVee wrote:I think Pizzonia handed Rosberg the seat after his mediocre performances at Japan and China.

Rosberg seems to be highly rated and won the GP2 championship in front of Kovailinen (who is apparently very good and Briatore managed ).

It sounds like Sir Frank is hoping for history to repeat itself!!

He is, apparantly, a fine young driver, with more race starts by the age of twenty than his father. He is also highly valued by the team for his technical expertise and engineering knowledge.

On the subject of Williams, the British "Telegraph" newspaper has reported that the team is close to signing a contract with Toyota for 2007 and beyond, as a "semi-works team".
Williams will race Toyota engines branded as "Lexus".
If this is true it does explain Sir Franks decision to switch to Bridgestone tyres along with Toyota.
With the loss of BMW, apparantly Sir Frank was keen to have Toyota power for 2006, but time constraints prevented this happening, forcing him to adopt Cosworth customer engines as a stop-gap.

Maybe Nico could boost Williams team performances and get them up the grid again!!

According to "Motorsport News" (Aust) Williams will not exercise their option with Pizzonia for next season. Given that the cost of running a third car is several million dollars the team is said to be looking for a cashed up young driver to take the seat.
Hmmm, Holland's Robert Doornbos has no drive at the moment, following the sale, and renaming, of Minardi.

Whats the amount for friday seat?

Kapel wrote:Whats the amount for friday seat?

About the amount it costs to build test and run the third car

Julian Mayo wrote:

Kapel wrote:Whats the amount for friday seat?

About the amount it costs to build test and run the third car

Thought u would know the figure,speculation in India media of apossible drive for NK as 3rd driver @ 4.5 million$

Kapel wrote:

Julian Mayo wrote:

Kapel wrote:Whats the amount for friday seat?

About the amount it costs to build test and run the third car

Thought u would know the figure,speculation in India media of apossible drive for NK as 3rd driver @ 4.5 million$

About 5 million pounds, I believe, Kappy.

For Australasian viewers Mark Webber is said to reveal all, as to his future with Williams in a television interview on RPM Channel 10, on Sunday afternoon

The Williams team confirmed today the signing of German Nico Rosberg as their second driver for 2006.

Nico is Finnish. His mom is from either Germany or Spain, but dad was the original "Flying Finn" and a joy to watch drive i might add. He grew up between Spain and Finland, however. Nico is a real comer. This announcement is exciting.

Chris

RE30B#16 wrote:

The Williams team confirmed today the signing of German Nico Rosberg as their second driver for 2006.

Nico is Finnish. His mom is from either Germany or Spain, but dad was the original "Flying Finn" and a joy to watch drive i might add. He grew up between Spain and Finland, however. Nico is a real comer. This announcement is exciting.

Chris

Chris,

Nico is considered German (officially at least!). I realise his father Keke is Finnish but Nico was born in Germany and races as a German. His mother is German and apparently he doesn't speak much Finnish as he grew up in Monaco and Spain!.

Whatever his nationality is, he does have an impressive record so far and he could be a future champion in the making. Lets hope he isn't too young for Formula 1.

He does seem to be a remarkably mature young man, and I suspect his father would be an excellent tutor, and help him keep his feet well n truly planted on the ground