Former Mercedes F1 chief reveals troubled relationship with champion

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in 2016 in Abu Dhabi — Photo: © IMAGO

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Former Mercedes chief reveals troubled relationship with F1 champion

This F1 stalwart simply didn't click with a Mercedes star

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 23 April 2026 16:56

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An F1 icon has shed light on exactly why things didn't work out between him and a future champion during their time together at Mercedes.

Jock Clear is a renowned British F1 engineer who is able to boast working with some of the sport's biggest names, including two seven-time champions.

Clear worked as Lewis Hamilton's senior performance engineer between 2013 and 2014, having just come off the back of working with Michael Schumacher through the twilight of his career with the Silver Arrows.

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Though the Brit speaks highly of both legends, he hasn't been shy of sharing the difficulties he encountered when paired up with future drivers' champion Nico Rosberg in 2010.

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Clear on Rosberg: 'We just didn't click'

Clear was tasked with guiding Rosberg through his first season with the newly transformed Mercedes outfit as his race engineer, with the Brackley-based squad's first campaign after Mercedes' acquisition of Brawn a tough one for both parties.

You wouldn't know it on paper given that Rosberg managed to outperform F1 legend Schumacher during his first season racing alongside one of the sport's greats, but Clear and Rosberg did not get on.

In a recent appearance on Peter Windsor's YouTube F1 Livestream, Clear delved into his tricky relationship with Rosberg, highlighting what it was about the German-Finnish racer that rubbed him up the wrong way.

"It just didn’t click, we just didn’t click," Clear said about working with Rosberg during the 2010 season.

"I really value the relationship that I have with my driver, and it needs to be right, it’s a sporting environment and you need to understand each other, and Nico and I just didn’t understand each other at all, we just didn't have any synergy."

Further detailing the fallout of his position alongside Rosberg, Clear told F1 journalist Windsor that as soon as Schumacher heard the news that Rosberg would no longer be using the Brit as his engineer for 2011, the seven-time champion said: "Well if Nico doesn't want him I'll have him."

Rosberg was instead reunited with Tony Ross who he had worked well with at Williams, with the German benefitting from the Mercedes reshuffle for the 2011 championship.

Rosberg's long-term engineering partner then stayed with the German right until the end of his career in 2016, with the pair finally achieving a stunning championship victory over Hamilton in what would go on to be Rosberg's final season in the sport.