Rosberg's New Mercedes Contract is Worth HOW MUCH!?
Ryan Ashenhurst
Nico Rosberg has played his role at Mercedes well and continues to keep his Brit rival on edge. But his new salary is the definition of extortionate.
Mercedes is now paying Nico Rosberg an absurd amount of money and it's extremely ill-advised. First off, Rosberg's earnings now usurp Lewis Hamilton's. Given that Hamilton is the driver who's brought home three driver championship titles, the figure next to Rosberg's name becomes ridiculous.
The new deal rubbishes speculation linking Rosberg with a move to Ferrari and is worth a massive £36m for two seasons. That's £18m a year, which works out at a cool £346,000 a week! Crazy money when he's not even Mercedes' employer of the week…
The new deal does ensure that the cold war will continue at Mercedes, with Hamilton not inclined to comment on what two more years with Rosberg means. He said,
"It would be the same thing if Fernando Alonso was in the car next to me.
If there were any of the great drivers in the car next to me, we would be having the same fight. Might be smoother, might be more aggressive but not much different."
– Lewis Hamilton
One thing Mercedes refrain from employing is a number one driver policy. This will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future according to Toto Wolff. He added,
"We want them to be race drivers, they are the stars of the show. We don't want to have them go around like puppies. But equally let us not have three shunts in five races.
In a couple of years we might look back and say Rosberg-Hamilton was one of the best battles."
– Toto Wolff
The great rivalry that has come to fruition at Mercedes is clearly an expensive one to upkeep. With Rosberg's new salary revealed, here's what he could buy on a weekly basis:
– 17300 driving lessons
– 8 Mercedes E-class models
– 516,000 stress balls
Ryan	Ashenhurst