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Rosberg title would be 'very important' for F1 - Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone says having a new world champion in the shape of Nico Rosberg would be "very important" for Formula One.

Rosberg can win his first world title this weekend if he takes victory in the Mexican Grand Prix and team-mate Lewis Hamilton fails to finish. With Ecclestone having previously said "there is nothing to write about" Rosberg in comparison with Hamilton, he now insists there would be a positive aspect to having a new world champion on the grid.

REPORT: Hamilton leads Vettel in FP1, Rosberg P7

“I get into a lot of trouble because when people say ‘Who is the best world champion?’ I always say Lewis because he travels the world and he meets all different people, gets on TV everywhere; he’s super for Formula One,” Ecclestone told Sky Italia. “Would it be good to have him as world champion again? Too right, that’s a definite.

“But on the other side, with Nico, he’s a new world champion, so we’ve got another world champion in Formula One, which is also very, very important. And he seems to be growing out of his old self and he’s outward now, a lot better. So I’m very happy with him.”

Rosberg revealed he spoke to Ecclestone about his negative comments following the United States Grand Prix weekend. When asked if he has a favourite between the two Mercedes to win the title, Ecclestone replied: “No, not at all.”

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Scene at the United States Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.