Son of 1982 World Champion Keke, Nico Rosberg moved up to Formula One after a dominant season in the GP2 championship in which he took the title with ART Grand Prix. In April 2005 BMW Williams announced that Rosberg would become the team's second official test driver and after impressing all concerned the Grove-based squad confirmed his race seat alongside Mark Webber in 2006.

Rosberg's rise to Formula One saw the German take the traditional karting route starting in 1996 when he became the Regional Côte d'Azur mini-kart Champion. French and North American championships followed in 1997 and 1998 and Rosberg would finish fourth in the Junior European Karting Championship in 1999. He took the runner-up position in the Formula A European Karting Championship in 2000 and the Super A World Karting Championship title the following season. A move to single-seaters in 2002 saw Rosberg become the Formula BMW ADAC Champion before moving to the F3 Euro series and taking four wins over the next two years.

Joining ART Grand Prix in the new GP2 category in 2005, Rosberg enjoyed a season-long battle against rival Heikki Kovalainen, eventually taking the title whilst also testing on a regular basis for Williams.

His debut season with Williams Cosworth brought flashes of raw pace with a great performance on his debut in Bahrain that saw the German take the fastest lap of the race on his way to seventh position. Another seventh place finish would follow at the European Grand Prix at Nurburgring, but it was essentially a tough first season for Rosberg.

The Williams Cosworth package was not particularly competitive and as with any rookie driver, Rosberg was also busy learning the circuits. His task was not made any easier in the very limited mileage Cosworth gave the team for the Friday practice sessions meaning that more often than not, Rosberg would head into qualifying with very little running behind him.

Rosberg remained with the team in 2007 and was joined by Austrian veteran Alex Wurz in what was a more competitive technical package. The team made good progress throughout the season with its Toyota-powered FW29 and this allowed Rosberg to notch up 20 points over the season and ninth in the standings.

2008 brought Rosberg his much anticipated first podium but as a whole, the campaign was not a particularly successful one. Third position in an attrition hit Australian Grand Prix got the season off to a good start but just three points from the next 13 races told the bigger story.

The FW30 package was not particularly competitive and new team-mate Kazuki Nakajima pushed Rosberg hard and on more than one occasion was the faster of the two. The inaugural Singapore night race brought Rosberg a fine second position however as he and the team made best use of dithering race organisers with regards to an imminent drive through penalty.

Having built up a nice cushion at the front of the field following a safety car shake-up, Rosberg took the penalty and held on to take the runner-up position and the best result of his career to date. The eight points moved Rosberg clear of Nakajima and the German finished the season with 17 points and 13th in the standings.

Rosberg remains with Williams Toyota in 2009 and has made clear that he will be looking elsewhere should the team fail to make a step up the grid.

For the first time in his short career however, there are now the first doubts starting to creep in and the coming year will be pivotal should he wish to move up the order with Williams or a rival team such as BMW Sauber in 2010.