03/07/2016
NEWS STORY
Speaking shortly after today's race, Nico Rosberg was fully convinced that the last lap clash which resulted in him slipping down to fourth whilst teammate Lewis Hamilton took the win and further closed down the German's championship lead, was the Briton's fault.
"I am absolutely gutted," he told Sky Sports F1, "it's unbelievable. I was sure to win the race and lost it on the last lap, that's pretty intense.
"I had the inside position," he explained, "a strong position, and went a bit deep into the corner, but that's fine because I dictate, but l was very surprised that Lewis turned in and that caused a collision. We were battling. I was struggling a little bit with my brakes because they got a bit hot in the end and my tyres were degrading so that gave Lewis a chance. Nevertheless, I was confident I could defend accordingly and bring it home."
While team boss Toto Wolff did his best to contain his anger, describing the incident as "brainless" and warning that team orders appear to be the only solution, the race stewards adjudged Rosberg to be the culprit.
Taking to Facebook, the German expressed his feelings about the decision, even though the resultant time penalty didn't see him lose position.
"They gave me the blame, which sucks," he said. "I respect that, but I am of a different opinion. But that doesn't help.
"I defended the inside and felt in a strong position," he continued, "I was convinced that I would make it stick. I went deep because that was the best way at the time to try and defend my corner, to keep him on the outside. Of course, I need to leave him room on the track, which I was doing, and then Lewis completely caught me by surprise and turned in.
"He said in an interview that I was in his blind spot so he couldn't see where I was, so maybe that might be the reason, but it just completely caught me by surprise that he turned in before we got near to the edge of the track even though I was there. So then I couldn't react and then we collided."