Former Mercedes F1 ace Nico Rosberg has claimed Austrian racing legend Niki Lauda tried convincing him to stay at the German outfit despite the 2016 announcing his retirement shortly after winning the world title. Rosberg stunned the world in 2016 when just a few days after winning his first and only F1 world championship, announced he would be retiring from motorsport altogether. Several within the Mercedes tried changing his mind including the three-time world champion, Lauda. "Especially Niki (Lauda)," Rosberg told Motorsport-Total when asked if Mercedes tried convincing to race on. "Sure, it would have been easier if I kept driving." Rosberg proceeded to state that he planned on celebrating his success for a month before announcing his retire though he decided against this in order to avoid leaving the team in a lurch. "I would have loved to have celebrated the world championship title for another month and then at some point said: 'I'm going to quit!'" Rosberg explained. "If it had been up to me, I would have done it in January. Another month of celebrating as World champion, and then Christmas and all that, and then sometime in January say, 'I'm going to quit.' I only did it for Toto and for the team, very simple." Rosberg has since gone on to establish himself as a "green investor" with his Xtreme E team becoming one of the acquisitions he has made.
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