I beat Lewis Hamilton to an F1 world title before abruptly retiring to run festivals for worthy causes | The Sun

NICO ROSBERG was once on top of the F1 world but after suddenly retiring he has started running green technology festivals.

The German-Finn beat childhood friend and rival Lewis Hamilton to the world championship in 2016 but left the sport just five days later.

Rosberg, 37, admitted that the main reason behind his retirement was down to being "afraid" he would not be fast enough and eventually left without a team.

He has since gone on to become a success in the sustainability world and established the Greentech Festival for technology in 2019.

He told the Sustainability Mag: "While I was still an active F1 driver, I was fully concentrated on my career.

"This changed drastically when I ended my racing career and began to show interest for other technologies, particularly in the space of sustainable mobility.

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"Through my former employer Daimler, I was introduced to the latest powertrain developments and future technologies in their R&D, which I thought were fascinating.

"So I began to invest in e-mobility start-ups and later moved on to other sustainability projects."

Rosberg has overcome being judged for his career in F1 in the sustainablitiy world and has argued that motorsport has helped road cars become more efficient.

He added: "In the beginning, the shift from F1 to sustainability certainly seemed like a bold move, but people quickly understood that we need to have a positive view on innovation and technology in order to advance on matters of climate protection.

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"Motorsport has played a big role in making our road cars more efficient and continues to be an important platform for new technologies.

"The mindset in F1 is, there is no ‘can't do’.

"This is precisely what we need to fight climate change."

The technology festival takes place annually and has featured in Berlin, London, New York and Singapore.

After his retirement, Rosberg also worked for Sky Sports as a pundit during the F1 season.

During his career behind the wheel Rosberg claimed 23 wins in his 206 races and finished on the podium 57 times.

He suffered a huge crash in Abu Dhabi in 2012 when he collided with Narain Karthikeyan.

Luckily, Rosberg came away unscathed from the incident, but reflecting on moments such as these make him all the more pleased he stopped when he did.

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