World Cup win goes to Rosberg's head, but no trophy

[July 17, 2014]  HOCKENHEIM Germany (Reuters) - Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg has had to abandon plans to wear a special helmet decorated with the golden World Cup trophy in his home German Grand Prix due to copyright issues.

Rosberg, who drives for German Football Association sponsors Mercedes, had shown his 712,000 followers on Twitter a picture of the planned helmet in the German colors with four stars and the trophy on top.

"This will be my Hockenheim World Cup special edition helmet with the FIFA trophy. How do you like it?," the German had asked fans still celebrating Germany's 1-0 triumph over Argentina in the final in Brazil last weekend.

German media reported, however, that the helmet infringed world soccer body FIFA's copyright and Rosberg's spokesman Georg Nolte confirmed that the image of the trophy would not now appear.

He said a new version would be produced, still featuring the four stars denoting Germany's four world championships.

Rosberg, who signed a contract extension with Mercedes earlier this week, leads British team mate Lewis Hamilton by four points ahead of Sunday's race - which marks the halfway point in the season.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Tony Goodson)

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