Nico Rosberg will face serious consequences, but his comments were misinterpreted and he did not deliberately crash into Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix, according to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
Speaking after a heated meeting to review Sunday's stormy race won by Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo, Wolff explained that Rosberg, who was booed on the podium, had wanted to make a point by not giving way when the pair collided on Lap 2.
That, he said, did not mean Rosberg had intended to crash with Hamilton, puncturing the Briton’s left-rear tyre and wrecking his race. Hamilton, who retired pointless with four laps remaining after battling at the back of the field, later said Rosberg had told him he had hit him deliberately.
“It looked quite clear to me, but we just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose,” Hamilton said.
“He, basically, said ‘I did it to prove a point’ and you don’t have to just rely on me – go and ask Toto [Wolff], Paddy [Lowe] and all those guys who are not happy with him as well.”
Rosberg, with a broken front wing, survived and finished second to open up a 29-point lead over Hamilton in the title race with seven races remaining.
“Today we’ve seen the limits of the slap on the wrist,” Wolff said.
“The slap on the wrist is not enough.
“If Lewis has said that it’s going to be a slap on the wrist, and that there’s going to be no consequence, then he’s not aware of what consequences we can implement.”
Wolff declined to elaborate, but he said that Mercedes could do “a lot” and that the team would re-introduce strict team orders to avoid any repeat incidents that gift victories to their rivals.
“What we have to do is see it as a matter of principle and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Wolff said. “We had the conversation at the beginning of the season. It was an absolute no-go to crash into each other. We’ve had mega-exciting races, where they were fighting fair and square, with great excitement for all of us. And at that stage, they were on top of the situation, and we were on top of the situation.
“Now it’s come to a point where it’s getting very tight, and probably we need to tackle that with more intensity to make sure we stay within the boundaries we’ve set at the beginning of the season.”
Unlike Wolff, non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has suggested the feuding duo should be allowed to continue to race.
Lauda said: “This is our policy, the same policy in which you respect each other.”
Rosberg said his view of what transpired in the meeting after the race contrasts markedly to that of Hamilton, but has opted not to elaborate.
Speaking via his post-race video blog, Rosberg said: “It’s definitely one of the more difficult video blogs. I’ve been told what Lewis said in the press, and the way he has stated his version of the events.
“All I can say is my view of the events are very different, but the thing is it’s better I don’t give all the details of my opinion and things like that.
“I hope you respect that. I prefer to keep it internal. We had a very good discussion, an important discussion after the race.
“As when such things occur we must sit down and review them, and that is what we did.
“Everybody gave their opinion, and now we need to move forward.”
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RICCIARDO FANCIES TITLE CHANCE NOW
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Daniel Ricciardo is eyeing up a shot at the world title after his second straight win and third in six races brought him within striking distance of squabbling championship leaders Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.
The Red Bull driver’s triumph in Sunday’s stormy Belgian Grand Prix cut the gap to second-placed Hamilton to 36 points and trimmed Rosberg’s advantage to 64 with seven races remaining – and double points on offer at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“It is great,” the beaming Australian said. “We are really motivated right now, and it has been a really good day for us on a track where we didn’t expect to get maximum points. If I am within 50 coming into Abu Dhabi then, yeah... There are still a few races to go. Definitely, while it is still mathematically possible we will keep fighting.
“To come and steal some points where we were not supposed to is nice. What is important now to look ahead is to capitalise on the circuits we can be strong on – if we can take maximum points at a couple of those it is never over.
“I see good things ahead if we can collect maximum points around here.
“It gives us a bit more hope for the circuits that are going to come later in the season – Singapore and Suzuka, just a couple to mention.
“I’ll keep smiling for a while but I still stay grounded.
“Monza, I know, will be tricky again, but the package we bought here was pretty racy so we’ll try to take something from here to Monza – and both Singapore and Suzuka will be pretty good for us.”
- Agence France-Presse
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