The incident resulted in then race-leader Rosberg finishing fourth due to damage sustained to his front wing, while Hamilton went on to win the race and close the gap in the drivers’ standings between the pair to 11 points.
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Rosberg appeared on course to extend his lead in the championship, but crashed into Hamilton as the Briton attempted to pass his Mercedes team-mate around the outside of turn two.
Reuters says Mercedes boss Toto Wolff described the collision as “brainless”, and King 5 says that Wolff told German television that both brakes on Rosberg’s auto were affected.
Despite the controversy which left Rosberg fourth and fuming, Hamilton was quick to dismiss the incident.
“Three cars could’ve gone on the inside there so…”
“The fact is, if they race in the way we saw in Bahrain [2014] – that’s the best example – we love it”.
“It was a great start and also a good first lap and straight away I could feel the pace was there in the vehicle”, said Verstappen. I am fighting for the world championship so we will keep fighting. “Hopefully they are a blip in the mist and we will continue racing forward”.
After being informed of Wolff’s comments, Hamilton replied: “Emotions are running high but it might not have been the best thing to say”. That is our goal and my goal – although I want to be at the front of the 1-2.
“In Barcelona I was much more at ease with it”, said Wolff.
“The only outcome is to look at all the options and one is to freeze [positions]”, he said.
“We let our drivers race and we trust them to do so – but colliding team-mates is not what we want and this is something that needs to be stopped”, said Wolff after the race.
Rosberg protested his innocence, but the majority of those in the paddock, as well as the race stewards, deemed him to be the guilty party. “I don’t go out to get caught in collisions”. That was always the intention. “I was sure to win the race and lost it on the last lap, that’s pretty intense”.
“I don’t go out to get involved in a collision”, said Hamilton.
It could be argued that Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton should not have been sharing the same piece of tarmac.
Nico’s version, told to Sky Sports, says they (Nico and Lewis) were battling, and he was struggling with his breaks because he got a bit hot in the end. I respect that. I’m of a different opinion but it doesn’t help.
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“It would be very short-term thinking of everybody”, he added when asked about a possible negative impact of a collision that denied the team a one-two finish.
