‘NICO IS A VERY FORWARD-THINKING INVESTOR’
It would be fair to say it took Nico Rosberg a little while to get to grips with Formula E’s Gen2 car. Even before his Turn 1 slip at Tempelhof, he also had a major moment exiting the Turn 9 hairpin on his out-lap, getting perilously close to the barriers on the exit of the right-hander as he squirted the throttle and the car’s massive torque spat him wide.
After a few more exclamations and radio calls to work out how to change the brake balance rearwards and more to his liking, things quietened down and he got on with the job of showcasing the batmobile-inspired racer to his home crowd. He clearly enjoyed the experience and became so focused on the task in hand that he forgot to enter the pits at the end of the final run and had to park up at the pitlane exit.
FE CEO Alejandro Agag is clearly delighted to welcome Rosberg – the second Formula 1 world champion after Jacques Villeneuve – into the electric series’ sphere.
“It’s great to have him with us, as an investor and as a supporter,” says Agag. “He’s coming here and giving all this support. Who better to drive the Gen2 car for the first time ever?
“My impression is that he’s really looking into a lot of interesting stuff as an investor. Especially new technologies, artificial intelligence, mobility, connectivity and so on.
He is a very forwardthinking kind of investor.
“I remember very well when I was in Vienna walking to the FIA prizegiving ceremony and I’d heard the breaking news on the way that he was going to retire from Formula 1 – on the night that he was going to pick up his trophy as world champion!
“I get to the venue and who is just in front of me – I was walking with my wife – but Nico? So, I waited for dinner to pass, more or less, then at the coffee I go to say hello – and his wife looks at me – and I say,
‘Hi, I’m Alejandro Agag from FE and I would like to talk to your husband’. And she goes, ‘Don’t even think about it. He’s not getting into a race car again!’”