10/10 Series: Attention to Detail - Nico Rosberg
Sport is simple yet complicated. Success is dependent upon a stopwatch or the location of the ball relative to a line. However, the actions leading to these moments are what add up to make a champion. Such actions can seem complicated and microscopic. However, paying attention to these details can lead to great rewards. Champions leave no stone unturned. Here is why.
In this ever-evolving world, data, and the accurate analysis of such, are becoming increasingly significant. The reason? Technology means that we are more aware of the finer details. Therefore, the opportunity to make small changes create significant differences is continually increasing in frequency. In essence, the incremental gains were already there; we just hadn't yet discovered them. For a competitor, this is an exciting prospect because it, quite rightly, suggests that there is still extra performance on the table for the very best to seek and exploit. It is natural then, that science is becoming ever-present in a sporting context. From psychology to technology, each detail might define the recipient of the trophy.
Champions are perfectionists. Connor McGregor explains that there is no such thing as talent, only obsession. While I disagree that talent doesn't exist, he demonstrates the focus that champions have on the finer intricacies. In understanding every detail, the number of challenges one can take on will be higher, yielding a greater success rate. Matthew Syed's 'Black Box Thinking' suggests that when there is an unexpected challenge, a problem that frequently arises is to lose perception of other potential issues. Having attention to detail allows competitors to remain composed in unknown circumstances because they are more likely to have considered different circumstances taking place. A great example of this being vital is strategy. However, reacting to unusual situations can occur at any time in sport, not least in the ever-changing world in which we live.
In Formula One, attention to detail finds a new level. On average, a Formula One car has 80,000 components. Thus, were 0.1% of components to go wrong, that means 80 parts of the car will be going wrong. Anything less than 100% is not an option if you want to succeed.
The most complex component is the driver, who, unlike the rest of the car, has feelings, ambitions and ego. Finding the balance of confidence and humility is a great challenge for the drivers. Every driver thinks that they are the best. However, the culture of F1 is such that arrogance is rebuked in favour of constant innovation and self-improvement.
Since 2014, only one man has managed to beat the (current) second greatest F1 driver of all time in Lewis Hamilton. There were multiple reasons that Nico Rosberg won the 2016 championship, as there are with any championship win. In Nico's case, we are in a fortunate position where he retired, having reached the summit. Consequently, Nico is more open in explaining how he managed to win. After all, unless he does an Alonso, and returns to racing (incredibly unlikely), there is nobody from which he needs to hide his secrets.
Nico did what many top-level athletes are doing nowadays, working with a sports phsycoiologist. Natural, after he had received a hammer-blow in confidence, being comprehensively beaten by Hamilton during 2015. Using 'black box thinking', Rosberg learned from his past mistakes, focusing on his mindset. Quite noticeably, he changed how he addressed Lewis. Previously, "my teammate" was as far as Nico would go when addressing Hamilton. In 2016, he seemed insistent on focusing on beating "Lewis Hamilton" on the weekend in question. The point is, he knew that he could beat Hamilton over a race, he just needed to keep doing that to become world champion. In having the bravery to accept that he needs greater mental strength, he was able to gain more power as a competitor and maintain consistency.
As an international athlete, maintaining consistency is difficult while travelling the world. The nature of the job serves jet lag in not-so-generous helpings. However, since retiring Nico has spoken about how he worked with sleep experts to ensure that he didn't get jet-lagged. In doing so, the sacrifices were substantial. In preparation for changing time zones, Nico shifted his sleeping period by ninty minutes per day. This meant that at some stages, he was going to bed at 6pm and getting up for a morning run at 2am, allowing him to land in the Far East already accustomed to the time zone. It even meant sleeping in a separate bed to his wife and missing critical moments in his baby growing up. Nevertheless, this attention to detail gave him the confidence to touch down, win races and ultimately steel the championship from Lewis.
Iconic Moment: Summer ‘16
The best example of champion-worthy thinking from Nico Rosberg came during the summer of 2016. Having dominated the opening rounds of the season, Rosberg was closed in and overtaken in the championship standings by a resurgent Hamilton. The summer came at a good time for Rosberg because it meant a short break, in which Hamilton's momentum would diminish when the season resumed at the end of August.
In Rosberg's 2016 Mercedes car, an extra kilogram of mass increased the time over one lap by 0.3 sec. Minimising weight, then, is fundamental for a driver's pursuit of victory. In the mid-season, a weight-loss diet is out of the question, avoiding any risks of energy faltering. Therefore, Nico had to innovate. He decided to lose weight by stopping cycling, decreasing the muscle mass on his legs by 1 kilogram.
Nico refers to the Japanese Grand Prix, which took place later in the season, as a critical point that destabilised Lewis in the championship. The German qualified on pole position, beating his rival by just one tenth of a second. Lewis would then go on to have a scruffy race, widening the points gap, giving Rosberg the upper hand in the championship run-in. In hindsight, it is clear. However, the foresight from Rosberg - stopping cycling, to gain a weight advantage - was the decision-making of a champion. And so it proved. Nico would take the title in the final race, pressured to the end by Hamilton.
The conditions under which Rosberg won the race were as close to torture as one can get while being paid handsomely to drive a fast car. Hamilton was the victor on the day, and despite the Briton backing his teammate into the chasing pack, Rosberg held his nerve and won over throughout the year.
Just days following the title decider, the Formula One world collectively turned to one another and asked: "have you seen this?"
Nico Rosberg decided to retire upon winning the championship. He had proven everything that he wanted to. With all of the sacrifices made in his search of detail, Nico had come to realise that the lifestyle that made him champion was unsustainable for him and his family. Nico, and those around him, maintain that he has no regret for his decision. From the outside, it seems that way too.
While you have to have respect for Rosberg's decision, it says a lot about those that do come back for more having reached the summit. Nico Rosberg is far from average, yet he couldn't handle the life of a champion for multiple years. If anything, this enlarges the appreciation for those who do come back to win more. The constant hunt for an edge never stops for a champion. Like I said, sport is simple yet complicated.