F1 world champion Nico Rosberg admits extraordinary 2.30am habit

The 2016 United States Grand Prix podium — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Legends

F1 world champion admits extraordinary 2.30am habit

Nico Rosberg had an unusual habit

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 17 September 2025 22:56

2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg has revealed an unusual habit that helped him to defeat Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg and Hamilton were team-mates at Mercedes between 2013-2016, being involved in three fiercely fought title battles in that time.

After losing out to Hamilton in 2014 and 2015, Rosberg managed to defeat his Mercedes team-mate and claim title success in 2016, before opting for a shock retirement from the sport in the aftermath.

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He is now a well-renowned pundit, regularly appearing on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Germany throughout the season at race weekends.

Now, Rosberg has revealed some unusual habits that used to help him get enough sleep, particularly during race weekends in which he would usually suffer jet lag having flown in from another event halfway across the world.

"Sleep is the most underrated performance (and life) enhancer," Rosberg said in a LinkedIn post. "When I was racing in Formula 1, I really struggled with jet lag. Flying from Japan to South America was so tough. In F1, lacking just a tiny bit of focus can be the difference between success and failure (crashing).

"So, my performance doctors and I collaborated with Harvard sleep professor, Dr Steven W. Lockley and worked on a personalised routine for me to completely eliminate jet lag.

"In a nutshell, for big time zone changes: I shifted my sleep by a maximum of 1.5 hours a day before and after travel, used black out glasses before bed time and a 10,000 lux lamp at wake up time. Importantly, no more screen time 1.5hrs before bed time! That stops the body's melatonin production which is needed to get tired fall asleep well!

"In preparation for the Australia time zone, I’d be waking up at 1am and running through Monaco at 2:30am. My wife thought I was crazy. But it 100 per cent worked. I had zero jet lag for an entire season. It was a GAME CHANGER for my life and races."

Hamilton v Rosberg

Following Rosberg's retirement from the sport, Hamilton went on to win the next four world championships with relative ease, with new Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas not able to mount a serious challenge.

Mercedes won eight consecutive constructors' titles between 2014-2021, helped in part by the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg, pushing each other on.

However, their fiery rivalry did also lead to headaches for Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, notably at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, when the pair crashed into each other, allowing Max Verstappen to claim his first grand prix victory.

Rosberg retired with 23 race victories, 57 podiums and that one world championship from 2016.

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Mercedes Nico Rosberg