Keke Rosberg facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Keke Rosberg
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Rosberg at the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix
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| Born |
Keijo Erik Rosberg
6 December 1948 Solna, Stockholm, Sweden
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| Spouse(s) |
Sina Gleitsmann-Dengel
(m. 1983) |
| Children | Nico Rosberg |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Finnish |
| Active years | 1978–1986 |
| Teams | Theodore, ATS, Wolf, Fittipaldi, Williams, McLaren |
| Entries | 128 (114 starts) |
| Championships | 1 (1982) |
| Wins | 5 |
| Podiums | 17 |
| Career points | 159.5 |
| Pole positions | 5 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| First entry | 1978 South African Grand Prix |
| First win | 1982 Swiss Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1985 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1986 Australian Grand Prix |
Keijo Erik "Keke" Rosberg (born 6 December 1948) is a Finnish former racing driver. He was also a leader in the world of motorsport. Keke raced in Formula One from 1978 to 1986. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1982 with the Williams team. Keke won five Grand Prix races during his nine seasons.
Keke was born in Sweden but grew up in Finland. He started his racing journey in karting. Later, he moved up to Formula Vee in 1972. After winning the Finnish Championship, he raced in Formula Super Vee. There, he won the German Championship in 1975. He then competed in European Formula Two from 1976 to 1979. At 29, Keke made his Formula One debut. This was with the Theodore team at the 1978 South African Grand Prix.
He spent the rest of the 1978 season with Theodore and ATS. He even won a special non-championship race, the 1978 BRDC International Trophy. This was only his second Formula One race. Keke returned in 1979 with Wolf. He joined the Fittipaldi team in 1980. In his very first race with them, he scored his first points and stood on the podium.
After two years with Fittipaldi, Keke joined Williams in 1982. He won his first race that season at the Swiss Grand Prix Grand Prix. He also had five other podium finishes. This helped him win the championship at the very last race of the season. He became the first World Drivers' Champion from Finland. Keke couldn't defend his title in 1983. This was because Williams struggled with the new turbo engines. However, he still won the Monaco Grand Prix Grand Prix. He also won the final non-championship Race of Champions.
He continued to win for Williams. He won at the Dallas Grand Prix Grand Prix in 1984. In 1985, he won the Detroit and Australian Grands Prix. He finished third in the championship that year. Keke then moved to the champion team, McLaren, in 1985. He raced alongside Alain Prost. He didn't win any races that year, and his teammate won the title. Keke retired at the end of the season. He had five race wins, five pole positions, three fastest laps, and 17 podiums. Outside of Formula One, Keke won races in the World Sportscar Championship with Peugeot. This was from 1990 to 1991. He also won races in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) from 1992 to 1995.
Since retiring from racing, Keke has managed other drivers. He managed two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner JJ Lehto. He also managed two-time World Drivers' Champion Mika Häkkinen. Keke also guided and managed his son, Nico. He helped Nico from his karting days all the way to winning the World Drivers' Championship in 2016. Since 1994, Keke has owned and managed Team Rosberg. This team has won championships in different racing series. These include German Formula Three, Formula BMW, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, and Extreme E.
Contents
Early Life and Racing Start
Keke Rosberg was born on December 6, 1948, in Solna, Sweden. His father was studying veterinary science there. Both of Keke's parents, Lars Rosberg and Lea Lautala, were from Hamina, Finland. The family moved back to Finland in 1950. They first lived in a Swedish-speaking village in Lapinjärvi. Young Keke had some trouble with the language there because his family spoke Finnish. Later, the family moved to Hamina, Oulu, and Iisalmi.
Keke started his racing career a bit later than some. He had already raced in several series before Formula One. These included Formula Vee, Formula Super Vee, Can-Am, Formula Atlantic, and Formula Two. These were like stepping stones to Formula One.
Keke's Formula One Journey
Starting with Smaller Teams: 1978–1981
Keke's first Formula One race was with the Theodore team in 1978. He quickly impressed everyone. In only his second race, a non-championship event at Silverstone, he won! This happened after many famous drivers struggled in heavy rain. Keke then raced for ATS for a few races. He returned to Theodore later, but their cars were not very competitive.
He then joined the Wolf team in 1979. However, the team had money problems, and Keke often couldn't finish races. When Wolf left Formula One, Keke moved to Fittipaldi Automotive. This team had bought parts of the Wolf team. In 1980, he scored his first points. He even got on the podium at the first race in Buenos Aires. But the Fittipaldi car was not fast enough. Keke often failed to finish or even qualify for races. The 1981 season was even tougher, and he didn't score any points.
Becoming a Champion with Williams: 1982–1985
Even with these struggles, the Williams team was interested in Keke. Their 1980 World Champion, Alan Jones, had retired. This left an open spot for the 1982 season. With a competitive car, Keke had a great year. He consistently earned points. He got his first victory at the Swiss Grand Prix in Dijon-Prenois. Even though it was called the "Swiss Grand Prix," the race was held in France. This was because Switzerland had banned motor racing since 1955.
The 1982 season was unusual. No driver won more than two races. The Ferrari team faced sadness with the death of Gilles Villeneuve and injuries to Didier Pironi. Other teams like Brabham and Renault had powerful but unreliable turbo engines. Keke's consistency helped him win the Drivers' Championship. His Williams FW07C car used an older, less powerful engine. But Keke won the championship by five points. He became the champion even though he won only one race. This tied a record for the fewest wins in a championship season.
After his championship, Keke's years were harder. Williams had cars that weren't as good. Also, the powerful Honda turbo engines were not always reliable. For his title defense in 1983, Keke still used the reliable Ford engine. But other teams' turbo engines were becoming faster and more reliable. Keke started the season with a pole position in Brazil. He then won a special non-championship race at Brands Hatch. He also won the Monaco Grand Prix. He made a smart choice to start on dry tires when others used wet ones. It became clear that Williams needed a turbo engine. So, Frank Williams made a deal to use the Honda V6 turbo engine. Keke and his teammate first used these engines at the end of the 1983 season. The new Williams FW09 car was immediately fast. Keke finished fifth in the race and fifth in the championship.
In 1984, Williams and Keke still struggled. The car's design wasn't strong enough for the powerful Honda engine. Keke managed to control the car and engine to win the Dallas Grand Prix. His only other podium was a second place in Brazil. He finished the championship in eighth place.
The 1985 season was better for Keke and Williams. Keke had a new teammate, Nigel Mansell. The new Williams FW10 car was much better. Honda also brought an improved engine. Keke used the new engine well. He won the Detroit Grand Prix. He also got pole position in the next two races in France and Britain. Keke's pole lap at Silverstone was very fast. It was the fastest lap ever recorded in Formula One at that time. This record stood until 2002.
Keke Rosberg's fifth and final Grand Prix win was at the 1985 Australian Grand Prix. This was on the new Adelaide Street Circuit. It was also Keke's last race for Williams. Keke was known as a specialist on street circuits. Four of his five wins were on these types of tracks. Keke handled the hot weather better than most. He won by a large margin.
Just as the Honda engine started to perform well, Keke decided to leave Williams. He signed with McLaren, who had won the championships in 1984 and 1985. The Williams-Honda team would go on to dominate racing in 1986 and 1987.
Final Year with McLaren: 1986
Keke's move to McLaren for the 1986 season seemed like a great idea. McLaren had been the top team for two years. However, the 1986 McLaren car was not as powerful as its rivals. Keke was also beaten by his teammate, Alain Prost. The McLaren car was designed for a smoother driving style. Keke had a more aggressive style, braking late and throwing the car into corners. It wasn't until later that Keke could change his car's setup to suit his style. This happened around the time he got his only pole position of the season in Germany.
Sadly, Keke's close friend Elio de Angelis died in a testing crash in May 1986. This deeply affected Keke. He decided to retire at the end of the season. He later said he retired "too soon."
Keke Rosberg led most of his final Formula One race, the 1986 Australian Grand Prix. But he didn't win. While leading by a lot, his rear tire failed. He thought it was an engine problem and stopped. He later realized he could have just driven to the pits for new tires. However, he also said he planned to let Alain Prost win anyway. This would help Prost win his second championship. Prost did win the race and the title.
Keke had decided in mid-1984 that he would only race for two more years. He announced his retirement publicly in Germany in 1986. He said he was glad he left Williams when he did. He mentioned that he might have quit earlier in 1986 if he had stayed. This was because of someone in authority at Williams he didn't get along with. He didn't name the person, but it was thought to be Patrick Head. Patrick Head took over running the team after Frank Williams had a serious accident.
Life After Formula One
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In 1989, Keke returned to racing in the Spa 24 Hours race. In the early 1990s, Keke was a key driver for Peugeot's successful sportscar team. He had two victories with them. After two years, he moved to the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). He drove for Mercedes-Benz and Opel. In 1995, he started his own team, Team Rosberg. At the end of that year, he stopped driving to focus on managing his team.
Team Rosberg continued in DTM until the series stopped. They have also raced in other series like Formula BMW, German Formula Three, and A1 GP. Team Rosberg returned to the DTM in 2000 with Mercedes cars. They later switched to Audi in 2006.
Managing New Talent
Keke spent a long time managing other drivers from Finland. These included JJ Lehto and future world champion Mika Häkkinen. Until 2008, he also managed his son, Nico. Nico started racing in Formula One in 2006 with Williams. In 2013, Keke and Nico became the first father and son to both win at Monaco. Their wins were 30 years apart. In 2016, Keke and Nico became the second father-son pair to both win Formula One World Championships. The first pair was Graham Hill and Damon Hill.
Keke's Helmet Design
When Keke raced karts, he had a white helmet with a blue stripe. In Formula One, a designer named Sid Mosca painted his helmet white. It had a blue circle on top. The stripe became a large blue rectangle over the visor area. There were also some blue rectangles behind it. This was similar to Didier Pironi's helmet design. In 1984, the rectangles changed to a yellow shape. His son Nico used a similar design early in his Formula One career. Nico's helmet used grey instead of blue and had flame patterns. He changed to a new design in 2014.
Images for kids
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Rosberg at the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix
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Rosberg in the Wolf pits in 1979.
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Rosberg won the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix in a Williams FW09.
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Rosberg driving for Williams at the 1985 German Grand Prix.
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Keke Rosberg – Opel Team Joest – Opel Calibra V6 at Melbourne Hairpin, Donington Park, 1994 DTM
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Keke Rosberg's helmet
See also
In Spanish: Keke Rosberg para niños
