Nico Rosberg escaped unscathed but the bird was not so lucky, after a 200kph collision in Bahrain during Friday practice.
Bild newspaper reports that the Shanghai winner, and Friday afternoon's fastest in the island Kingdom, came to blows with a wayward feathered-friend as Rosberg's Mercedes circulated the Sakhir circuit.
Video and photo footage depicted the 26-year-old German driver returning to the pits with bloodied feathers stuck in his visor.
"I thought, God, what's that?!" Rosberg told the newspaper. "It was a violent impact, pushing my head right back. The bird exploded on the helmet, but nothing else happened," he said.
In 1960, British F1 driver Alan Stacey died at Spa-Francorchamps, after a bird smashed through his visor. Rosberg wears a state-of-the-art EUR 12,000 Schuberth helmet.
Bird hits Rosberg's helmet in Bahrain practice
- Published on 21 Apr 2012 12:22
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- By: Danny Sosef
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C. Leclerc
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Feb 13
A. Antonelli
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
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Spain
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Bahrain
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Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
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Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
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Bahrain
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Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
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10 - Apr 12
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17 - Apr 19
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1 - May 3
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Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
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Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
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Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
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Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
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Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Driver profile
- Team -
- Points -
- Podiums -
- Grand Prix -
- Country DE
- Date of b. Jun 27 1985 (41)
- Place of b. Wiesbaden, DE
- Weight 71 kg
- Length 1.78 m
4 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Nico Rosberg
Team profile
- Team name Mercedes
- Base Brackley, Germany
- Michael Schumacher 3
- Nico Rosberg 4
- Nico Rosberg 6
- Michael Schumacher 7
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 9
- Lewis Hamilton 10
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli 12
- Lewis Hamilton 44
- George Russell 63
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- 638,839 comments on Mercedes
- 59 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Mercedes
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