MOTORSPORT: Nico Rosberg retires from F1

Nico Rosberg has shocked the F1 world by announcing he has retired with immediate effect just days after clinching the sport's world title for the first time.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver, and fellow team mate to Lewis Hamilton, announced his decision to quit the sport on social media following an 11-year career in F1.

Rosberg's decision to not defend his world title follows ex champs Mike Hawthorn, Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell as drivers who left F1 after winning the world title.

The race is now on for the Mercedes team's boss Toto Wolff to find a replacement for Rosberg. The German team have the choice of two junior drivers who are already under contract to the German race team - Force India's Esteban Ocon and Manor's Pascal Wehrlein - both have been judged too inexperienced to deal with the immense pressure of being paired with Hamilton.

This has led to wild speculation, within the sport, that Wolff will look further afield to find a teammate and attempt to poach a more well-established driver from a rival team.

McLaren-Honda's Fernando Alonso, the Spanish driver who raced alongside the British driver ten years ago, has also been mentioned by many commentators as an ideal match for Hamilton on the basis of their shared great mutual respect for one another.

Williams Valtteri Bottas, who's managed by Wolff, is also a contender to replace Rosberg. It helps that the German car-maker supplies engines to the British F1 team, leverage that could help release the Finnish driver from his current contract.