Nico Rosberg certainly has the pedigree and the talent to make it in Formula One, but as others have shown life isn't easy when the comparisons start rolling in.

Nico, the son of 1982 World Champion Keke, began his motorsport career with the usual karting route, winning the Regional Côte d'Azur mini-kart Championship in 1996 before moving on to the French and North American Championships in 1997 and 1998.

The following year he entered the Junior European Karting Championship, finishing in fourth place.

Two more years of karting followed, where he took second place in the Formula A European Karting Championship and in 2001, the Super A World Karting Championship title.

A switch to single-seaters was next on the cards for Nico, who won the Formula BMW ADAC Championship in 2002 before moving on to the F3 Euro Series.

During his two-year stay in F3, he claimed four race wins and also made his F1 debut in a test for Williams.

The team signed him as their second test driver for the following season but his priority was the new GP2 feeder series and, racing for the ART Grand Prix team, he took the inaugural title.

Confirmed as Williams second driver for the 2006 season, Rosberg immediately showed immense promise; however, his first season in Formula One was a ultimately difficult one for the young German.

Although Nico scored points in his very first grand prix and even finished the race with the fastest lap time, the rest of the season was a struggle.

Only one other points-scoring finish followed as the Williams-Cosworth package battled with both pace and reliability.

Rosberg's bad luck continued during the first half of 2007 season and, although he displayed greater pace than team-mate Alex Wurz, the Austrian scored the greater amount of points.

However, the season eventually came to Rosberg and he ended the year with a total of 20 points, including a fourth-place finish at the season-ending Brazilian GP.

Rosberg's strong performances led to speculation that he would head to McLaren after the latter parted ways with Fernando Alonso at season's end.

Williams, however, were quick to confirm Rosberg for the 2008 Championship, during which he will partner rookie driver Kazuki Nakajima.