The defending three-time world champion and new leader of this year’s title race said their failure to act had encouraged drivers, in all categories, to take scant notice of flags and endangered marshals and other on-track personnel. “Next week there will be a go karting race somewhere and there will be a double waved yellow somewhere because somebody went off and marshals will go out and help”. Video footage revealed that Rosberg had lifted going into turn eight and again for turn nine, where Fernando Alonso’s McLaren had been parked on the exit of the corner.
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Rosberg escaped a sanction after stewards deemed he had slowed down sufficiently in the double yellow flags situation under which the German secured pole position on Saturday. Double yellows, if you look it up in the rulebook, means be prepared to stop. “So, arguably, if you go two kph or four kph slower, or you brake a little earlier, and you drop one and a half tenths, I don’t think you are preparing to stop”.
Lewis Hamilton has stressed that, despite the win in Hungary on Sunday that gave him the lead in the Formula One world championship for the first time this season, he can not afford to let up in the pressure he has exerted over his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
“I’m not a fan of penalising every single one because we need to race as well, but I think it was pretty much what I was trying to say earlier, and I think we didn’t set a great example yesterday [Saturday]”. It’s been a good battle with Lewis and, as I’ve always said, I’m not counting the points, there’s still a long long way to go. “It’s still close and it just takes a small thing to switch it the other way and I want to do that at Hockenheim on Sunday”. “I just managed to get my head together, and get my s*** together and get on with it”.
“But since Spain we’ve pulled together, and I’d love to come out of the next race with a result like this so when I do go to Spa or Monza and have a penalty and start from the pit lane or last place, that is a minimum damage”.
“I want to go into the summer break with what lead I have nowat least”. “At the beginning of the season [Nico] won so many points against Lewis and you can see it swings in both directions”, he told Sky Sports.
Rosberg will be hoping to stop the rot on home turf at this weekend’s German Grand Prix.
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“It’s about avoiding mistakes, DNFs is what can cost you the championship and I think we’re going to see that swing towards the end of the season”.
