Rarely does ‘breaking’ actually mean breaking when it comes to sport news these days, given that word is churned out so regularly for events that are planned well in advance. Yet every now and then a story hits home that leaves you so stunned you don’t know what to say. Nico Rosberg’s retirement from Formula One on Friday did just that.

Plenty of F1 world champions gone before him will still have been knee-deep in alcohol-enthused celebrations after winning their first world championship, and Rosberg certainly lived up to that reputation with what was supposed to "one of the best" last Sunday.

But come Monday he was on a plane to the Far East with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to be paraded in front of the Petronas staff that have backed the Mercedes campaign, or so we thought. What actually happened is that the newly-crowned 2016 world champion decided he was not going to honour the two-year contract he signed in July this year, and that he had decided to retire.

And fair play to him.

When you achieve a true childhood dream like Rosberg did in Abu Dhabi, how do you top it? If, like Lewis Hamilton, you’ve got the desire to emulate your hero in winning three world championships just as Ayrton Senna did, then you focus on the year ahead and try to repeat your success.

But Rosberg’s aim was to match his father, Keke, and become a world champion, and he can live the rest of his life knowing he did dad proud. Another big factor here is that Rosberg has a young family now, and despite soaking up the joy and the champagne in equal measure that came with victory last weekend, Vivian Sibold and Alaia Rosberg, his wife and 15-month-old daughter respectively, will be much happier to have him back home.

It also needs to be remembered that this generation of F1 drivers are fully aware of the dangers that the sport poses. After more than 21 years without a death in the formula, Jules Bianchi succumbed to his injuries sustained in the Japanese Grand Prix in October 2015 after spending nine months in a coma. Suddenly, a grid that had not seen a death in the sport during their careers were burying their colleague, their friend, one of their own.

The initial feeling that came with Rosberg’s announcement was one many others will have had: he’s bottled it. Had Hamilton not endured his well-documented reliability failures this season, there would almost certainly be a different man on top of the 2016 standings and Rosberg would still be a racing driver, still aiming to win his first title.

F1 2016 driver ratings Show all 23 1 /23 F1 2016 driver ratings F1 2016 driver ratings Nico Rosberg – 9 out of 10 After losing two consecutive title battles to his Mercedes teammate, even Nico Rosberg appeared to doubt Nico Rosberg last February. The fact he bounced back to triumph is great testament to his character and determination. Standout drives in Azerbaijan, Italy, Singapore and Japan were reinforced by his tremendous recovery to third in Malaysia. The only negative is he still hasn’t convinced anyone that he’s more talented than Hamilton. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Lewis Hamilton – 8 out of 10 Reliability issues and grid penalties. The story of 2016 for Lewis Hamilton, but he‘s guilty of taking his eye off the ball too. Rosberg had no right to get back into the title fight after the summer break, but Hamilton was no longer the mighty force we’ve come to expect and allowed off-the-track distractions to impact his cause. Malaysia’s engine blow-up was pivotal in the title battle and ended up with him accusing his own team of sabotage, but the dropped points in Bahrain, Azerbaijan and Singapore also cost him dearly. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Daniel Ricciardo – 9 out of 10 After a baron 2015, it was a delight to see the Ricciardo smile back on the top step of the podium in Malaysia – and introducing the ‘shooey’ to boot. He cruelly had victory snatched away from him by his team twice in Spain and Monaco. Faced a fresh challenge when Verstappen stepped up, but more often than not kept him at bay. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Max Verstappen – 9 out of 10 Lit up the season with his breath-taking drives through the field. Stunned the world when he won in his very first drive for Red Bull in Spain, but it will be his drive from 16th to third in the atrocious conditions in Brazil that will go down in history. Clashed with Vettel and Raikkonen and his defensive driving has been under scrutiny. But he has the talent to win multiple world championships, now he just needs the car. Red Bull may just deliver that in 2017. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Sebastian Vettel – 7 out of 10 Seven podium finishes fell like short change from a Ferrari that was tipped to challenge Mercedes in pre-season, but the fact is that Vettel has been ringing a lot out of what has proven a really poor car. Consistently out-drove Raikkonen, and will hope to get back on top of the rostrum in 2017. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Kimi Raikkonen – 6 out of 10 Showed signs of the old Kimi in the first half of the season with plenty of smart strategies that brought him into podium contention. Tailed off as the season wore on though, and looked to be somewhat affected by his battle with Verstappen. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Sergio Perez – 7 out of 10 His two impressive third-place finishes came in Monaco and Azerbaijan, but it was his consistency over the second half of the season that really stood out and secured him seventh in the standings. Reeled off 10 straight top 10 finishes to consolidate his position as Force India’s No 1. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Nico Hulkenberg – 6 out of 10 You do wonder if he will ever reach his true potential. Linked with a move to replace Raikkonen at one point, he will now start 2017 at Renault. They may be a manufacturer, but are they where the German should be at the peak of his career? Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Valterri Bottas – 6 out of 10 Kept his head as chaos unfolded around him to take an impressive podium finish in Canada, but his performances tailed off as the season wore on and he ended 2016 with a whimper, struggling to 11th in Brazil before retiring after a handful of laps in Abu Dhabi. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Felipe Massa – 5 out of 10 Perhaps he took his eye off the ball after announcing his retirement at the end of the season, but his performances through the latter stages tended to result in either retirement or a mid-field finish. Highlight performances in Melbourne and Sochi hinted to a better farewell, though he deserved every second of his emotional send-off in Brazil. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Fernando Alonso – 7 out of 10 The Spaniard showed his class on a number of occasions in a McLaren that is still not up to scratch. Saw off Jenson Button in the battle of the veteran world champions, and after starting his season upside-down in Melbourne in a frightening accident, he recorded two fifth-place finishes and nine points-scoring results to stand out from the rest. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Jenson Button – 5 out of 10 A sixth place in Austria is as good as it got, but some may argue it was one year too many for JB, and they might be right. With Alonso scoring more than double the points Button managed and Stoffel Vandoorne waiting in the wings, he disappointed this season though that wasn’t through a lack of trying. Still one of the most popular figures in the paddock, he’ll be missed. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Carlos Sainz – 7 out of 10 Enjoyed a tremendous start to the season with regular points-scoring finishes, and showed his undoubted talent with three sixth-place finishes. Sainz also demonstrated a good understanding of the Pirelli tyres as he excelled on long runs, and a place in the senior Red Bull team may not be as far off as it looks. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Daniil Kvyat – 3 out of 10 What started at Red Bull ended with Kvyat riding a bicycle back to the paddock in Abu Dhabi. It may seem like a distant memory but Kvyat actually finished on the podium back in China in his penultimate Red Bull outing, though once he was ousted by Verstappen he managed to take just four more points throughout the season. Lucky to keep his place at Toro Rosso. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Romain Grosjean – 6 out of 10 Looked like he could be one of the surprises of the season with the newly-formed Hass F1 team, as the American outfit scored points in their very first F1 race. The season started to become a struggle as it wore on though as the Frenchman’s car suffered repeatedly from brake issues, but he still demonstrated that he had raw pace when everything clicked. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Esteban Gutierrez – 2 out of 10 While Grosjean impressed with 29 points, Gutierrez was nothing short of terrible this season and managed to finish the year as one of only two full-time drivers without a point. He also faced the fury of the front-runners who were less than impressed with his reactions to blue flags, and his angry reaction to being dropped by Haas was a rather damning indication of his character. Doesn’t deserve a 2017 seat at Manor. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Kevin Magnussen – 4 out of 10 Billed as the unbeatable teammate at Renault, the Dane is leaving after just one year. Outscored Jolyon Palmer with an assured drive in Russia and also used the Renault’s strong technical aspects to score points in Singapore. Off to Haas next year, which may be a wise move for him. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Jolyon Palmer – 4 out of 10 Turned around a difficult year to record a string of impressive drives in the second half of the season to out-perform Magnussen. History shows he gets better the longer he spends in a certain formula, but he’ll have his work cut out next year when Hulkenberg comes to town. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Felipe Nasr – 4 out of 10 He struggled this season, but delivered the goods when it mattered most to score two crucial points for Sauber that lifted them above Manor in the Constructors’ Championship. Deserves another shot, and while his projected deal with Sauber has been held up, it should get over the line before 2017. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Marcus Ericsson – 3 out of 10 A dismal run through the middle of the season saw Nasr fight back in their head-to-head battle, and it was his fault when the pair collided at Monaco in a moment to forget. The only other driver not to score despite competing in every grand prix. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Pascal Wehrlein – 4 out of 10 It’s almost F1 law that the Manor should be at the back of the field, so it was a delight to see Wehrlein take tenth and claim a point in Austria. He showed signs of why Mercedes rate him so highly with a second standout performance in Bahrain. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Esteban Ocon – 5 out of 10 Came in for the Belgium Grand Prix and instantly provided more competition for Wehrlein, and if you count their retirements, he won the inter-team battle 7-2. Has secured himself a role at Force India next year, which isn’t too shabby at all. Getty F1 2016 driver ratings Rio Haryanto – 1 out of 10 Remember him? His F1 spell lasted all of 12 races where he secured a best finish of 15th. Don’t expect him back any time soon. Getty

There must be a part of Rosberg, however small, that knows he is very unlikely to repeat his success next season if Hamilton has anything close to a clean year in the engine department, and on his day, Rosberg knows Hamilton is currently unbeatable.

So he bottled it, and decided to bow out on top rather than defend and risk losing his title. But then it struck home. No one bottles it when they run through Eau Rouge at speeds close to 200mph. No one bottles it when they are so determined to win that they will drive wheel-to-wheel with their teammate-cum-rival to the point of no return and cost their employers dearly in order not to concede any ground in the title battle.

No one bottles it when they climb into the cockpit in Formula One.

Certainly Rosberg didn’t bottle it, and for that I commend him. He can enjoy his success with his family in peace, and the incredible pressure of facing Hamilton in a title battle removed with his decision. The only sadness is that we won’t see another year of two drivers so intent on beating each other that they will do anything within their power to achieve it. Or will we?

Rosberg's family is a key influence behind his decision to retire (Getty)

As always, the F1 circus goes on, and no sooner had Rosberg sat down after making the biggest decision of his career than motor racing fans swarmed to the internet to find out his replacement. Mercedes may live up to their word and go after a big name to really push Hamilton next season, while test driver and favourite for the seat, Pascal Wehrlein, would certainly warrant it after a stand-out rise through DTM and Manor F1 last season.