F1 champion reveals the sleep hacks that changed his life

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

Nico Rosberg

F1 champion reveals the sleep hacks that changed his life

Nico Rosberg retired from F1 in 2016

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 19 April 2026 11:55

A former F1 champion has revealed the sleep hack techniques which eradicated the jet leg which had 'destroyed' him for so long.

Nico Rosberg was involved in three championship battles with F1 legend Lewis Hamilton in 2014, 2015 and 2016 while the pair were at Mercedes as team-mates.

The German lost out in 2014 and 2015, before beating Hamilton in a straight fight in 2016, becoming a world champion just like his father, before then retiring in the aftermath aged just 30.

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Rosberg is now a broadcaster and businessman, but has revealed that he continues to use the sleep hacks he learned from his F1 days during his current ventures.

The 40-year-old took to LinkedIn to talk about 'biohacking', a term that is being used on social media to describe lifestyle self-improvement.

"I was biohacking before it had a name," Rosberg revealed in a post on LinkedIn. "Back then, it was just called 'trying to survive Formula 1'.

"But it’s super cool to see how important human performance has become for people in general these days. And I’m always impressed by the way most founders I meet live their lives like top-performing athletes. According to a new study, 94% of people believe in optimising their body’s performance through biohacking strategies.

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Sleep hacks which ended Rosberg jet lag nightmare

"For me, the best 'biohacks' are still the basics. When I was racing, jet lag used to destroy me.

"So I went all in and worked with a Harvard sleep professor who taught me strategies to have basically zero jet lag. The tricks were simple but super disciplined: one-and-a-half hours maximum of time shift per day, and then blackout glasses in the evening two hours before needing to go to sleep and then light exposure in the mornings etc.

"Because I currently travel a lot to the US for Rosberg Ventures meetings, I noticed the same problem creeping back in. And when you’re jet-lagged, you don’t just feel tired, you’re not as sharp.

"So I’ve been using some of the tricks I learnt back then, and I’m happy to report that I’ve got zero jet lag and my sleep is better than ever."

Rosberg then went on to explain how his nutrition choices, meditation and music playlists also helped him to stay on top of his game.

Hamilton and Rosberg's fiery relationship

Having spent many years together in junior racing categories, Hamilton and Rosberg were good friends when they became Mercedes team-mates in 2013.

But this relationship did break down somewhat during their three title battles, with Rosberg famously throwing a cap at Hamilton at the 2016 United States Grand Prix.

That same season, the pair also crashed into each other at the Spanish GP, something which Toto Wolff has recently admitted led to him temporarily 'firing' the pair to teach them to respect the team more.

Hamilton and Rosberg's relationship remained frayed for a while, but German legend Rosberg revealed a few years ago that they had made up and were friends again.

F1 Mercedes Nico Rosberg