24/08/2014
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton has accused teammate Nico Rosberg of deliberately hitting him during today's Belgian Grand Prix, claiming the German has admitted it.
Hamilton's claim follows a crisis meeting held by Mercedes following a controversial Grand Prix which saw the two clash on the second lap, the Briton suffering damage that was to eventually end his race and allow his teammate to further widen his championship lead.
Speaking after the race, team bosses Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda were both clearly angry, pointing the finger of blame squarely at the German saying that such incidents were unforgivable.
"Today we saw our worst case scenario when the drivers made contact on lap two and that ultimately cost us a one-two finish, said Wolff in the team's official post-race wrap up.
"It has been our clear policy to let the drivers race this year but rule number one is: don't hit each other," he continued. "To see that kind of contact, so early in the race, is an unacceptable level of risk to be taking out on track. It cannot - and will not - happen again."
"Lewis was in the lead, there's no question about it," Lauda told Sky Sports F1. "Nico was behind. Why in the second lap? Someone has to explain to me. Because if they fight all the way to the end and these things happen, they can happen, but not in the second lap.
"If he wants to pass he can pass him on the slipstream easily one lap later without danger and without risk. It was not that he had to do it because it was the last corner."
However, it was later, speaking after the meeting, that Hamilton dropped his bombshell.
"Basically said he did it on purpose," he told reporters. "He said he could have avoided it, but he didn't want to. He basically said, 'I did it to prove a point'.
"He came in there and said it was my fault," added Hamilton. "You don't have to just rely on me, go and ask Toto and Paddy who are not happy with him as well. I was gobsmacked when I was listening. You need to ask him what point he was trying to make."
In fact, Wolff attempted to play down the situation, telling reporters: "He (Rosberg) didn't give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space, and that Lewis didn't leave him space. So they agreed to disagree in a very heated discussion amongst ourselves, but it wasn't deliberately crashing. That is nonsense."
As some blame the Mercedes management for the situation, which now really does echo the dark days of Prost and Senna at McLaren, if it should be found that Rosberg did intentionally cause the incident he could face punishment from the FIA, the last thing the German team would want.
Check out our race gallery, here.
Chris Balfe