26/10/2015
NEWS STORY
It's fair to say that Nico Rosberg looked very much a broken man following yesterday's United States Grand Prix.
Whilst Lewis Hamilton soaked up the adulation and the Champagne on the podium, Rosberg - to use a Scottish expression - "had a face that was tripping him".
Of course, it was an unexplained error that caused the German to lose his lead in the final stages of the race, that and a couple of safety car periods - the motorised version and the virtual. However what clearly rankled the Mercedes driver was the incident at the first corner, when Hamilton not only appeared to move over on the German, forcing him to run off track and lose positions, but gave him a little punt to help him on his way.
Other than Rosberg's miserable mug on the Austin podium, many were astonished to see an incident in the ante-room before the drivers stepped on to the podium.
Rosberg is seen to throw his podium cap at his teammate, who had previously thrown it to him. Some have claimed that the initial move was a deliberate snub by the British driver who had just won his tenth race of the season and his third title, tossing the gap marked '2nd' to Rosberg.
Whatever, the likeable German wasn't happy, and whilst mystified by his own mistake that cost him the race, was also highly critical of his teammate's actions in T1.
"Turn One for sure was very aggressive," said Rosberg. "It was extremely aggressive, we hit each other, or I would say Lewis came into me, so obviously that's not good. I can't say more than that."
"I didn't try and push him out, it wasn't intentional," insisted Hamilton. "I don't feel like I was aggressive. At the end of the day I was on the inside so it was actually my line."
Aware of how the situation could develop, Mercedes, which has encouraged its drivers to race one another, has admitted that it will keep an eye on things lest they develop.
"It is a crucial moment now to make sure today's race and this incident don't release consequences within the team and split the two sides of the garage," admitted Toto Wolff.
"If we don't take any action it has the potential to be like Spa," he added, referring to the incident at the start of last year's Belgian Grand Prix when Rosberg ran Hamilton wide at Les combes.
"We have some experience and we just need to have a calm approach and a firm approach of how we would like them to compete," he continued."
Referring to the podium petulance, he added: "They are enemies in the same team and it is clear that we cannot expect him to cheer up in such a situation."