4 Father and Son Winning Combos

On Sunday, Nico Rosberg became the 103rd Grand Prix winner when he was the first driver to take the chequered flag in Shanghai's Chinese Grand Prix. With this win, Nico Rosberg joined a very small but illustrious group of father-son drivers who have both tasted success in racing.


So how does the list look now?

The Andrettis (Mario, Michael and Marco)
Mario Andretti moved to America early on and carved a niche in Indycars becoming a multiple Indycar champion and Indy 500 winner in 1969. He moved to Formula 1 and became world champion in 1978 with Lotus. Shortly after, he returned to America to race in Indycars and would continue to race well into the 1990s just as his son, Michael emerged on the scene. Michael Andretti won the 1991 Indycar title before moving to Formula 1 in 1993 where he was far less successful being Senna's teammate.

He returned to Indycars the year after but surprisingly never won another title and even more surprisingly, never won the Indy 500 - his luck there well known as the Andretti Curse. Third generation, Marco is now also a fully fledged Indycar racer, and finished a close 2nd in 2006 to eventual winner, Sam Hornish, Jr.

The Rosbergs (Keke and Nico)
Keke Rosberg was a late starter in Formula 1, making his debut in 1978 at age of 29. However, he would make up for it by winning the world championship in 1982 with Williams, the same year he took his first Grand Prix win in Dijon. He moved to McLaren in 1986 and retired shortly after, later claiming he retired "too soon". Son, Nico was born just before his retirement in 1985 in Wiesbaden in Germany and followed his father's footsteps into Formula 1.

This time, he would be one of the youngest drivers ever to make their debut in 2006, this time with the Williams team. His time there was fraught with an uncompetitive and unreliable car although he produced some stunning performances in his maiden season, including the fastest lap in his first ever Grand Prix. He moved to Mercedes in 2010 and two years later, would win his first Grand Prix in Shanghai - he is the first son of a living world champion to win a Grand Prix. Could history repeat itself for the Rosbergs? Well, if Mercedes do manage to find some consistency with their tyres to compliment what is essentially a very good aerodynamic package in 2012, the former Brawn team could be the team to beat this season.
  

Dad Gilles with young Jacques

The Villeneuves (Giles and Jacques)
Gilles Villeneuve burst onto the F1 scene when multiple world champion, Niki Lauda, left Ferrari for Brabham. He became one of the most popular drivers in F1 thanks to his aggressive driving style and some memorable races including the 1979 French Grand Prix in Dijon where he banged wheels with Rene Arnoux in the dying laps. Sadly, Gilles would never win a world title his talent deserved and died in qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.

Son, Jacques, made his name in Indycars and became champion in 1995 and also won the Indy 500 that year. He made his switch to F1 the year after with the highly successful Williams-Renault team and just missed out to team-mate Damon Hill for the title. He would make amends in a thrilling battle with Michael Schumacher the following year. Thereafter though, Villeneuve's career would peter out in uncompetitive Williams, BAR and BMW Sauber chassis before he pulled the pin on F1 after being shunted out by Robert Kubica in 2006.

Graham with son, Damon

The Hills (Graham and Damon)
Graham Hill was one of the golden generation in the 1960s, becoming double world champion in the iconic Cosworth DFV-powered Lotus 43. His F1 career probably went on for too long as he delved into winning with his own chassis. Hill died in a plane crash in the 1970s as oldest son, Damon was in his teenage years. Damon initially stayed away from car racing but after a change of heart, switched to car racing and finally made it to F1 via the Williams-Renault team in 1993 as teammate to Alain Prost.

Damon Hill was set to be supporting teammate to his world champion teammates, until tragedy struck in 1994 and Senna was killed at the San Marino GP. Hill was immediately made team leader, a role he relished as he took the title fight to Michael Schumacher to the final race in Australia in 1994. After enduring a torrid 1995, Damon became the first son of a former world champion to win the world title in 1996, fending off another famous son, his own team-mate, Jacques Villeneuve. Damon was ignominiously dropped from Williams for Heinz-Harald Frentzen and forced to defend his world title in an uncompetitive Arrows in 1997. He joined Jordan the next season and won his last ever race at Spa in 1998 before retiring in 1999.