Nico Rosberg, Keke Rosberg, Monaco, 2018

Keke and Nico Rosberg lap Monaco in their title-winning cars

2018 Monaco Grand Prix

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Father and son world champions Keke Rosberg and Nico Rosberg lapped Monaco in the cars they won their world championships with following today’s first practice session.

Keke Rosberg drove his 1982 Williams-Cosworth FW08 and Nico Rosberg returned to the cockpit of the Mercedes W07 he won the 2016 world championship with.

Both are also past Monaco Grand Prix winners, though neither won the race in the year of their championship successes. Keke Rosberg won the 1983 race, still in an FW08, the year after his world championship triumph. The younger Rosberg, who grew up in Monaco, won three consecutive Monaco Grands Prix from 2013 to 2015.

Keke Rosberg and Nico Rosberg lapping Monaco

2018 F1 season

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Nico Rosberg, Keke Rosberg, Monaco, 2018
Nico Rosberg, Keke Rosberg, Monaco, 2018

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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28 comments on “Keke and Nico Rosberg lap Monaco in their title-winning cars”

  1. Good thing those older cars had larger cockpits 😉

    Also, a sign of how quickly I’ve personally adjusted – seeing the drivers’ heads so exposed is strangely uncomfortable.

    1. hope im wrong. but i dont think i will ever adjust to the halo.

      if we wanna go the closed cockpit route fine. but lets do it properly and let the teams design their cars, instead of bolting on some temporary solution that we will be stuck with for years (like DRS).

      We all know that cars with roofs are safer than cars without roofs. W knew this throughout the history of F1. Same like we know that driving a car is safer than driving a motorbike. Imagine if MotoGP decided to add two more wheels to their bikes because its safer. They would be right, and could show statistics for it (like the FIA). Then later when there is a crash they could show how it saved lives. Who could argue with that?

  2. Graham (@guitargraham)
    24th May 2018, 13:56

    seeing Keke in the 82 Williams brings a big stupid grin to my face

    1. @guitargraham – it did to me as well mate. I saw him win the first Adelaide GP on TV but went the next year when he went to McLaren. He wasn’t real keen to put the foot down though was he LOL

      That was a nice moment to watch – only living father & son WDC to drive on the same track (and at home) – when will that happen again?? I may put that question in the forum.

      1. Like Jos and Max Verstappen on Zandvoort? 92015) Was indeed wauw.

        1. @macleod
          Yes that was great but I was saying father and son World Drivers Champions, I think 14 fathers and sons have raced F1, but only 2 have won Drivers Championships- bit of a different level.

          1. Tommy Scragend
            24th May 2018, 18:57

            I can only think of 13, but I’m probably missing one, in all likelihood a really obvious one! I’ve got Rosberg, Hill, Villeneuve, Magnussen, Verstappen, Winkelhock, Fittipaldi, Palmer, Brabham, Andretti, Stuck, Piquet, Nakajima.

            Is there another? I can’t find a list anywhere to check.

          2. @Tommy
            Alan Jones and his old man.

          3. Hmmm, scratch that. Stan Jones did not compete in F1.

    2. @guitargraham I love that they’re both number six.

      1. Graham (@guitargraham)
        25th May 2018, 16:45

        yeah @keithcollantine, me too. i was delighted when Nico chose his Dad’s old number. i was a huge fan of Keke’s. first F1 race i ever saw on tv (i was 5) was the soaking wet international trophy race at Silverstone in 78 that Keke won in a F2 Theodore that had been modified to take a DFV. he made all the famous drivers look silly that day. by the time i started attending races at Silverstone in 83 he was world champ and i was a die hard Williams fan. its such a shame he didnt get a competitive car until he was in his mid 30s….but we’ll always have the 160 mph lap at Silverstone in 85 and we’ll always have the Monaco 83 win – slicks on a damp track and mostly sideways. a delight to watch

  3. The Mercedes must be almost twice as long as the Williams :-)

  4. @keithcollantine
    Who takes the photos for you??- the one of Keke is awesome (he is not a top speed though is he) Are these available to purchase?? If so please send a link

    1. @garns – they’re reproduced under license from XPB Images, you can just about make out the watermark in the corner.

  5. That is so cool!
    That said, I will never forget watching Keke Rosberg wrestle his N/F Lola T333 Spyder in the 2nd generation Can-Am. That was even more exciting.

  6. How cool is this? Great to see Nico in an F1 again, and his father for the first time for me. If you haven’t, check his laps on the next generation Formula E in Monaco, nice stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT9-_X-Pvu4&t=150s

    1. @m-bagattini
      Nice stuff indeed, but that was in Berlin, not in Monaco. ;-)

    2. It might also be said that any article with a photo with the beautiful Vivian’s smile will brighten one’s day. Can’t be so bad for Nico to have a WDC and live in Monaco with a lovely wife and a couple of beautiful children.

  7. Surprised FOM/FIA/ACM didn’t make Keke cover the Marlboro logos on his race suit and helmet.

    1. @geemac
      I was thinking the same. Surely they need to be careful that Philip Morris don’t latch onto this as a way to get their branding back in front of an F1 audience. You know, pay for an old car to be run every other weekend…

  8. Love seeing this, but disappointed that they’ve updated the W07 livery from 2016 to 2018 spec.

    1. Tommy Scragend
      24th May 2018, 19:01

      I hate it when they do that. Why do it?

      At least they didn’t put Keke’s Williams in Martini livery ;-)

    2. @reg At least they didn’t do the same on the Williams. Although Martini stripes look good on pretty much anything.

  9. So cool. Love these kinds of things. Like when JV drove his Dad’s 312T4.

  10. Awesome sight.

  11. I still feel that Nico will be back in F1 at some point….but not in a team that has Lewis..

  12. Nico is having a great month – last week he tested the Gen 2 Formula E car at Berlin, and this week the 2016 Formula 1 Mercedes. Coulthard was commentating for Formula E too last week, and now he’s back in F1. Lucky guys…

  13. Great. I love good and the racers. They always give me a great feeling of racing cars they drive.

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