Mercedes will not pay Schumacher

Faced with the rumble across the Rhine, Mercedes competition boss Norbert Haug had to explain the signing of Michael Schumacher's contract and his announced salary of 7 million euros for the year 2010. According to him, Mercedes does not does not pay pilots' salaries.

Published on 13/01/2010 à 15:35

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While Honda, BMW and Toyota left the F1 and Renault sold part of his stable, Mercedes further strengthened its presence in F1 with the purchase of the Brawn GP team this winter.

Beyond taking a stake in Ross Brawn's team, Mercedes GP struck a major blow by signing Michael Schumacher to accompany Nico Rosberg in 2010.

In Germany, this 7 million euro contract (certainly already profitable as the return of Michael Schumacher caused so much noise) caused teeth to cringe, first and foremost within the Mercedes company itself.

Norbert Haug justified himself to the SID agency: “By controlling its own team, Daimler will spend 60% less than in 2005. And unlike the team McLaren Mercedes in which the German manufacturer pays half of the drivers' salaries, Mercedes will not spend a euro to pay Schumacher and Rosberg. In our own team, salaries are paid by our sponsors and the commercial rights holder, not by Mercedes-Benz. »

Very evasive on the amounts actually spent, Haug simply said that the total amounted to “tens of millions of euros”.