Nico Rosberg has been forced to change his special one-off helmet design for the German Grand Prix after a complaint by FIFA.
Following Germany’s 1-0 win over Argentina in last weekend’s World Cup final, Rosberg had planned to run with a unique lid at Hockenheim this weekend in tribute of the victory. It featured the German flag, four stars – one for each of Germany’s World Cup wins – and the World Cup trophy itself.
However, by putting the World Cup on there, FIFA claimed that it was in breach of its copyright, and asked the Mercedes team to remove it.
“Too bad, I would have liked to carry the trophy on my helmet as a tribute to the guys,” Rosberg tweeted. “But I respect the legal situation.”
Rosberg has since removed the trophy, and instead put a large fourth star in the centre of the design.
Here’s the before and after:
this will be my Hockenheim World Cup special edition helmet with the FIFA trophy. How do you like it??? @DFB_Team pic.twitter.com/ZKE4gh5EpA
— Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) July 15, 2014
a shame,i would have loved to carry the trophy as a tribute to the guys.but of course I respect the legal situation pic.twitter.com/esCboJkL4c
— Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) July 17, 2014
Trust FIFA to spoil the party. That said, back in 2006, Jarno Trulli ran with this design following Italy’s win over France. Nothing was said then…
#F1 Jarno Trulli 2006 French GP helmet. FIFA didn’t mind then, apparently… pic.twitter.com/NQy3wAOYMX
— Parc Fermé (@PFF1) July 17, 2014
Speaking in the press conference about the change, Rosberg made no secret of his disappointment: “Yeah, all the things you have to think of, it’s amazing, even the trophy has its trademark. I was surprised, but of course I fully understand.
“It was a pity because it looked really cool with the trophy on the top. It’s replaced now with a big star, and no-one can take that away from us. That’s ours!”