Nico Rosberg recently shed light on an intriguing aspect of his time at Mercedes, revealing the financial consequences he and Lewis Hamilton faced when they collided on the track.
The 2016 F1 World Champion, speaking on the ‘Business of Sport’ podcast, revealed the existence of a clause in the Mercedes drivers’ contracts that obligated Hamilton and himself to foot the bill for any damage resulting from collisions between them, irrespective of fault.
Their battles for supremacy on the track were a centerpiece of Formula 1 during their years racing together at Mercedes between 2013 and 2016.
However, perhaps none of their clashes was as memorable as their collision at the start of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
As they jostled for position into Turn 4, Rosberg and Hamilton made contact, resulting in a catastrophic crash that eliminated both Mercedes cars from contention.
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The incident not only shook up the race – with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen conquering his first Grand Prix win – but also had financial ramifications for the drivers involved.
“Because Lewis and I crashed, eventually the team made us pay for the damage,” Rosberg recounted.
“We had to sign a contract that from now on, if we crash, no matter whose fault it is, we will pay for the damage.
The financial sting became all too real for Rosberg after one particularly costly incident involving the two protagonists, and which served as a very efficient deterrent for future clashes.
“I remember how much I had to pay, it was £360,000 that I paid for one of those crashes. That was very painful,” he said.
“We definitely made sure not to crash after that.”
Rosberg also who recalled another instance from his past where he had to dip into his own funds to cover accident expenses.
Reflecting on his early days in F1 with Williams in 2006, the 23-time Grand Prix winner saw the first tranche of his very first paycheck with the Grove-based outfit serve to settle an outstanding debt related to a crash in GP2 the year before.
“As soon as the £80,000 hit my account, it went straight back out because my dad had taken out a loan to pay for my accident damage in Formula 2 at the time,” he explained.
“I crashed my car, and my front wing and the front end was destroyed – and it cost £80,000.
“The goal was for him not to fund my racing. We really tried to fund it all through sponsors. But it didn’t include the big crash. So I had to take out a bank loan for the big crash.
“So the first salary went first to cover that.”
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