Mercedes driver reveals team had intense discussions after his verbal spat with teammate Lewis Hamilton at Shanghai
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton (left) celebrates his Chinese GP victory as Nico Rosberg looks on
Shanghai: Nico Rosberg has revealed "very intense" discussions followed his Chinese GP spat with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton (left) celebrates his Chinese GP victory as Nico Rosberg looks on. Pic/Getty Images
Hamilton spearheaded a Mercedes one-two at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday, claiming his fourth Chinese GP victory.
ADVERTISEMENT
But what appeared a routine performance from Mercedes took on a fresh complexion when Rosberg later bemoaned Hamilton's tactics.
With Hamilton attempting to preserve his soft tyres during the middle stint of the race it led to Rosberg falling into the grasp of Sebastian Vettel chasing behind in his Ferrari. Yet following the team's debrief, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff confirmed Hamilton was completely exonerated of any blame.
Answering questions from fans in a post-race video blog, one accused Rosberg of "crying", to which he replied: "You said I was crying? I respect your opinion.
"I'll keep it in mind and try to show respect when it is due."
Saving tyres
As to why he did not attack Hamilton in the second stint, instead calling for the team to urge him to speed up, he said: "I can understand why you are asking... The reason is, I did try to attack him during the first stint and it just didn't work. All l did was destroy my tyres.
"So in the second stint there was no point doing that again because Vettel was right behind and it would have really risked my second place if l had tried that as l would have just ruined my tyres completely again and Vettel would have had a really good shot at overtaking me."
Following his criticism of Hamilton, the duo then sat down with the team to go through what unfolded. "It was very intense after the race, but we had a very good sit-down and a good discussion," assessed Rosberg. "There was a lot of constructive criticism and now for everyone it is a thing of the past. We move on to Bahrain."
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
