Rosberg and Hamilton split six-figure bill for Spain 2016 crash · RaceFans

Nico Rosberg has revealed how much he and Lewis Hamilton paid Mercedes for crashing into each other on the first lap of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

The 2016 world champion split the bill for the damage with his team mate following their collision at turn four of the Circuit de Catalunya.

“I had a contract that I had to sign which said that if ever we crash as team mates, we split the bill 50-50, us drivers,” Rosberg told Sky.

“We shared the Barcelona bill,” he said, confirming he paid “three hundred and sixty thousand”, indicating the total cost came to €720,000. “That was painful,” Rosberg added.

Rosberg started the race second behind Hamilton but passed him at the first corner. Hamilton tried to re-pass his team mate as they arrived at turn four, but Rosberg reacted to his move towards the inside, forcing the other Mercedes onto the grass.

Hamilton spun, collecting Rosberg’s car and damaging both as they spun into the gravel trap on the outside. The crash resulted in Mercedes’ first defeat of the season – one of only two they suffered all year – and led to Red Bull’s new driver Max Verstappen winning on his debut for the team.

Rosberg retired from F1 after winning the world championship that year. Hamilton went on to win four more titles with Mercedes before joining Ferrari this year.

However he has had a difficult start to life with his new team, failing to finish on the podium during a single grand prix in 2025. Rosberg said his former team mate faces a difficult decision over how long to continue with his new team.

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“He’s obviously the greatest of all time, we all, I think, agree on that,” he said. “But it’s really not a worthy ending to his career here, at the moment, it’s really a horrible situation to be in. It causes him, certainly, also a lot of suffering.

“He’s really stuck because retiring now – you can’t retire now. I mean, who are they going to replace him with? And it’s a bit of a loss of face also because taking on this big project and then 12 months in, just because it’s difficult, just retire, that doesn’t work.

“And keeping on going, time is also not on his side, and it’s not going to get easier, so that’s also really not an option. So it’s very difficult.

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