Finger of blame pointed at Rosberg

The fallout over the incident involving championship rivals and Mercedes team-mates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton is far from over.

Going into the Belgian Grand Prix, Rosberg held an 11 point lead over Hamilton in the drivers championship.

Rosberg’s poor start from pole position had handed Hamilton the lead of the race and with Mercedes dominance throughout the weekend it looked as though the duo should have disappeared off to complete an easy one-two finish for the team.

If Hamilton had taken the victory, the lead in the championship would have been just 4 points going into the next round in Italy.

However with Rosberg desperate to get past Hamilton, despite it only being lap two, the German hit Hamilton.

Rosberg lost part of his front wing in the collision, but the damage was worse for Hamilton who had to limp back to the pits with a puncture and seriously damaged flooring after the tyre had shredded.

The incident ended Hamilton’s race, whilst Rosberg went on to finish second behind the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

Almost the perfect result for Rosberg who extended his Formula One World Championship lead to 29 points.

Rosberg was unrepentant after the race, despite being heavily booed on the podium by the paying spectators.

?They are British fans so I understand,? Rosberg told Sky Sports.

‘All I ask is that they really prepare themselves well before having such opinions. For example, by reading the regulations and really understanding what is the code of conduct for us drivers ? that is what I would ask.

The Mercedes hierarchy were clearly unhappy with Rosberg’s actions.

Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda made it clear where he stood on the matter, speaking to the BBC: ‘It is unacceptable for me that, in the second lap, Nico hits Lewis,

‘If these things happen at the end of the race when they are fighting, we can talk about it. But on the second lap, it is ridiculous.

A seething Toto Wolff failed to hide his anger at the incident, with his face telling the whole story of how he really felt, during his Sky Sports interview he merely added; ‘It was an unacceptable risk, This is an absolutely unacceptable race for us. In lap two our drivers crashing into each other…unbelievable.

‘There is one rule and that is that you don’t crash into each other. And it has happened not at the end of the race but on lap two. If there is any rev limiter [for anger] I’m in there. It’s important there are rules and they’re followed.’

Speaking to the BBC he added: ‘You don’t try to overtake with the knife between your teeth on lap number two and damage both cars, Lap number two of a long race, a crash between two team-mates. It is absolutely unacceptable.

‘It’s a decisive moment for the battle between two of them and for the team. Lewis is very upset, but there is nothing we can say to him.’