Story highlights
Nico Rosberg is the sixth father on F1 grid
His own dad Keke was a world champion
Ferrari has an all-father driver lineup
“It is quite difficult with babies. Maybe they need to make a playground here,” says mother-of-one Gabriela Tarkanyi, the wife of Formula One driver Pastor Maldonado.
Has the time come for F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone to set up a kindergarten in the sport’s peripatetic paddock?
Never mind the 2015 title race, Nico Rosberg could be forgiven for wondering just how much his life is going to change after his wife Vivian gave birth to a baby daughter on the eve of this week’s Italian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver – the sixth father on the current F1 grid – broke the news on Twitter, announcing on Monday: “Our full moon baby girl was born yesterday afternoon. We are overwhelmed and totally in love.”
The 30-year-old German must now follow his peers Sebastian Vettel and Maldonado, both fathers to little girls, and Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean – who have sons – in mastering the art of steering buggies as well as racing cars.
Maldonado’s wife Gabriela has spent the European leg of the season, from Spain through to Italy, traveling to all the races with their two-year-old daughter Victoria.
“Pastor enjoys it a lot,” the Venezuelan explained to CNN. “We’re not with him a lot so it’s more relaxing for him to see her nearby.
“In his kind of life he needs to be away and it’s sad just to see her on FaceTime or to just call her.
“He passes by and sees us in the team motorhome and that’s it. This is his job and I understand that but we are here if he needs us.”
Maldonado missed the birth of his daughter because he was racing at the 2013 Italian Grand Prix, but he flew back to South America to see his new family as soon as possible.
“I was alone in Venezuela,” Tarkanyi said. “She was born on the Thursday and Pastor arrived on the Monday to see her.
“After that he traveled to Singapore and Japan and he wanted to see the baby so I brought her to Texas (home of the U.S. Grand Prix) when she was two months.
A former journalist, Tarkanyi has some tips for Vivian Rosberg if she is contemplating bringing the newest edition to the family’s racing clan – Nico’s father Keke was an F1 world champion – on the road.
“It’s difficult,” Tarkanyi smiles. “You need to take care of all the details and be organized.
“You never know with a baby when they might be sick, and it’s more difficult to travel, to take her on a plane if her ears or throat are bad, for example.
“I travel with an inflatable bath and lots of towels. At the beginning I had a hundred pieces of luggage but now I travel with just a carry-on bag. I have a special pushchair that’s easy to take on the plane.
“When you’re a new mother and father you don’t know what you will need but now I’m good at packing!
“There’s also the food to consider. Now she is eating out in restaurants or here (in the team motorhome) but in the beginning I had to prepare food at the track and it was quite difficult.”
This week, Tarkanyi posted a photo on Instagram of her and Pastor enjoying an evening out with Massa and his wife Rafaela. She says there is a strong bond between the wives and girlfriend in the paddock, and especially among the new mothers.
“Now more are starting to have babies and we ask each other, ‘What are you going to do? Is there a park nearby? Let’s go to the park!’ Tarkanyi explains.
Grosjean might be ninth in the world championship standings ahead of Sunday’s race at Monza, but arguably he’s “The Daddy” of the grid as the Frenchman is the only father of two, with sons Sacha, aged two, and Simon, who was born in May.
“There are ups and downs in having kids when you’re a sportsman,” the Lotus driver told CNN during the last race weekend in Belgium, where he finished on the podium behind the two Mercedes.
“Babies are the best tool for jet lag I can tell you! It certainly makes you forget the racing when you go back home on Sunday.
“When you’re living your passion and you’re in F1 traveling all over the world you tend to think that F1 is the center of your world and becomes your focus.
“When you’ve got a family, or friends, outside it helps you open your mind and think ‘this is my job.’”
There has long been debate on whether becoming a father changes the psyche of an F1 driver, who must accept danger as part of their day job.
Rosberg was born three years after his Finnish father won the 1982 world title with Williams, and Keke retired from F1 following a demoralizing 1986 season at McLaren.
Grosjean, who is rediscovering some of his best form since having children, says he has to forget the fact he’s a father when he takes his Lotus out onto the track.
“When the helmet is on and you close the visor, you don’t think about the fact that you’re a dad, or that there is a family behind,” explains the 29-year-old, who says neither of his sons have visited him during a grand prix weekend.
“What you do is dangerous, what you do requests a lot of focus and recently we had the experience that F1 is dangerous,” he adds referring to the death of his friend Jules Bianchi following an accident at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix.
“If you bring your family with you in the car then I don’t think you’re good enough.”
Meanwhile, Massa’s six-year-old son Felipinho is often seen in the inner sanctum of the F1 paddock, kicking a football around and sometimes even giving TV interviews.
Raikkonen has posted photos of himself traveling to races with his baby son Robin, who was born in January, though his Ferrari teammate Vettel prefers to shield his daughter Emily and long-term partner Hanna Prater from the limelight.
The brood might be growing for the fastest fathers in sport, but a paddock playground might yet be a stretch for F1’s governing grandfather Ecclestone – who has three adult children of his own – even if it could help nurture the next generation of racers.
Read: How to photograph fast cars and stay alive
Read: Women don’t want to take responsibility - Ecclestone
Who will win the F1 title? Have your say on CNN Sport’s Facebook page