Championship leader Rosberg, who had been in front with Hamilton in his slipstream, nursed his damaged auto over the line for fourth place with his advantage cut to 11 points after nine of 21 rounds.
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Reminiscing from the old Aryton Senna/Alain Prost days and in more modern times, this past season in Spain, both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided on the last lap at turn two on Sunday during the Austrian Grand Prix. Rosberg passed Verstappen on lap 61 but Hamilton could not make the pass for two more laps, letting Rosberg extend his lead and when back in clear air he was one and half seconds back from his team-mate.
“I am gutted, it’s unbelievable”, said the German, accusing Hamilton of turning in and causing the accident that broke his front wing as the slow-burning race suddenly exploded into controversy and acrimony.
Rosberg had jumped into the lead mid-way through the race, but had Hamilton closing gradually in on him in the closing stages, culminating in a dramatic final-lap clash as the world champion attacked.
“I was on the outside, it wasn’t me who crashed”, Hamilton, who was roundly booed by the Austrian fans on the podium, said on his team radio.
Perhaps, in the end, the coming together between Hamilton and Rosberg on the final lap of the Austrian Grand Prix – which culminated in Hamilton’s win and Rosberg limping home for a fourth place finish – simply delivered the right result.
“We were battling, and I was struggling a bit with my brakes and tires degrading, and that gave Lewis a chance. I was very surprised that Lewis turned in and that caused a collision”.
The incident occurred during the final lap of the race, where Rosberg was running in P1 and Hamilton breathing down his neck.
Lewis Hamilton victory is the 250th time that a British driver wins the Formula One championship that started in 1950.
On the booing, Hamilton added: “I don’t know why [they’re booing]”. I think he had a problem with his brakes potentially.
“I left a lot of room on the inside and I guess he locked up and crashed into me”.
The championship leader was also awarded two penalty points for the accident and a reprimand for not having stopped while his auto was damaged.
Team chief Toto Wolff banged his fist when his saw a replay of the incident.
Both Rosberg and Hamilton have attempted to absolve themselves from any blame, though Sky F1 pundits Anthony Davidson and Martin Brundle both believed it was the German’s fault despite Mercedes’ claims he had a brake issue.
Although he qualified second, Mercedes said the five-place drop will end up being just four due to the sequence of penalties and when they were incurred.
“I don’t feel it’s controversial really”, he said.
“I was chipping away where I was losing time, and eventually I finally got into the position to go for pole and then the rain came”, Hamilton said after clinching his fifth pole of the season and the 54th of his career.
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Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Haas and Spaniard Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso were seventh and eighth.
