Ex-Mercedes F1 Engineer Reveals Friction With Rosberg Resulted in Switch to Michael Schumacher

Despite winning just one F1 world championship, fans continue to talk about Nico Rosberg. Since the inception of the hybrid era, the German is the only other driver to win a title apart from Lewis Hamilton.

Over the years, Rosberg worked with various race engineers, one of whom was Jock Clear. The 57-year-old worked with the German for two seasons before switching to his then-teammate, Michael Schumacher.

Recently, Clear revealed he shared a poor relationship with Rosberg, which led him to moving away from working with the German.

Jock Clear reveals he didn’t share a healthy relationship with Nico Rosberg

Clear served as the race engineer to a fancied list of F1 drivers. This list includes the likes of David Coulthard, Jacques Villeneuve, and Rubens Barrichello. Currently, the 57-year-old is the driver’s coach of Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.

Before joining the Italian outfit in the 2015 season, Clear worked with Mercedes. Initially, he started out as Rosberg‘s race engineer and kept the role for two seasons. However, during an appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast, he admitted they didn’t get along very well.

He said, “I engineered Nico in 2010 opposite Michael (Schumacher), and then I went over to the other side of the table. Nico and I didn’t get on particularly well, just as a race engineer and driver. 

“He’d come from Williams where he had a very good relationship with Tony Ross. So, Nico and I sort of didn’t get on famously.” Clear revealed then Team Principal Ross Brawn asked him to switch drivers to resolve the issue.

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“So, Ross (Brawn) had a little bit of a rethink and said would I mind not working with Nico anymore, because Nico didn’t like me. And could I go and work with Michael. So I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely!'”

Clear: The relationship has improved

While he revealed their relationship was turbulent at the time, he believed their troubles were limited to the track. In addition, he thanked Rosberg for his help over the years.

He said, “Actually, we get on very well now. We still stay in touch, and he’s been very helpful to me over the years since, in talking about some of the driver psychology things. So actually, that relationship improved.”

While fans still talk about his rivalry with Hamilton, Rosberg arguably left an indelible mark on the sport.

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