Rosberg to become father in 2015

Nico Rosberg is the next F1 driver on pole position to become a father.

Other new dads in the paddock are Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, while the Lotus duo of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, plus Felipe Massa, also have young children.

And Mercedes’ newly-married Rosberg, championship runner-up in 2014, will be the next.

"It’s a girl!" the headline of the major German daily Bild exclaimed.

The 29-year-old German, who is scheduled to test on Friday despite reports of a neck strain, confirmed: "Vivian is four months pregnant and we are both super-happy."

Rosberg said he went with Vivian to the latest pregnancy scan, and admitted: "Simply amazing. On the 3D images you can already see exactly how she is growing."

The newspaper said his daughter is due to be born in mid-August, in the days immediately before the 2015 Belgian grand prix.

"Maybe I’ll ask Bernie Ecclestone to move a race," laughed Rosberg, when told he might be in the midst of yet another scintillating title scrap with Lewis Hamilton.

"Seriously," he added, "it’s much too early to think about that."