Norbert Haug insists that the results achieved by Nico Rosberg throughout his racing career from a young age are the reason why Mercedes Grand Prix has signed him up.

Speaking to Autosport, the Vice President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport revealed that he has known the 24-year-old since he was a "young boy" and kept tabs on his progression through the motorsport ranks.

However, Haug argues that Rosberg’s performances on the racetrack are behind the decision to recruit him to Mercedes Grand Prix and not the pair’s long history.

Haug told the news provider: "I’ve followed his career for a very long time. I’ve known Nico since he was a young boy but this is not the reason that he is now driving for us.

"He was very impressive from his first races in karts that I have followed. He has starred in every category and in his first F1 race he got the fastest lap. He is very capable and this was the reason."

Haug added that the fact that Rosberg has an uncanny ability to complete races, qualify strongly and keep mistakes to a minimum was also a reason for the decision.

Among the German’s achievements are that he was the first driver to win the GP2 series in 2005, while he finished seventh in the Formula One drivers’ championship this season with 34.5 points.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 8:05 pm and is filed under Motor Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.