Nico Rosberg’s sarcastic Max Verstappen verdict after Lewis Hamilton Hungary GP shunt
Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen.
Nico Rosberg sarcastically urged someone to tell Max Verstappen that it was actually a corner where he collided with Lewis Hamilton in Hungary, after Verstappen pinned the blame on Hamilton.
Hamilton and Verstappen engaged in a thrilling two-part battle at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton successfully holding off Verstappen in part one, before Verstappen returned for another attack in the final stint as the former title rivals battled over the final place on the podium. The end result was contact.
Nico Rosberg gets sarcastic in Max Verstappen v Lewis Hamilton verdict
Verstappen sent it down the inside of Hamilton at Turn 1, Verstappen locking both front wheels and briefly going airborne as he clipped the front-right wheel of Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Speaking to Sky F1 after the race, Verstappen pointed the finger firmly at Hamilton.
Asked if his frustrations spilled over into that battle, Verstappen having vented over team radio multiple times about his Hungarian GP strategy, the Dutchman replied: “I don’t think so. I mean, I went for a move that was fully on.
“But then in the middle of the braking zone, when I’m already committed of course to the move, he suddenly just keeps warping right, and if I wouldn’t have turned while braking straight, I would have made contact with him.
“So at one point yeah naturally I lock up, because he just keeps on turning to the right.
“People obviously made a lot about what happened in Austria, which is not correct, blah, blah, blah, but that’s on the initial move and then you just brake straight. You hold your wheel quite straight. And I felt like now it was not on the initial movement, afterwards, during the braking zone, he keeps turning right.
“You cannot do that when someone has committed to the inside. That’s why I locked up, because otherwise, we would have collided anyway because he would have just turned in on me.
“I don’t think that was wrong. I went for a move that was fully on. I don’t think I braked too late.”
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Hamilton’s former Mercedes team-mate Rosberg, serving as a Sky F1 pundit for the Hungarian GP, did not share Verstappen’s view on the incident, sarcastically saying someone must inform Verstappen that Hamilton was turning because they were at a corner.
“Frustration is starting to boil over, which we as spectators quite enjoy watching honestly,” said Rosberg, “it’s a change from the Red Bull dominance, isn’t it?
“But I’m assuming here that maybe Max hasn’t seen it yet on a TV, otherwise, someone needs to tell him that was actually a corner, which is why Lewis was turning in…I mean, Lewis was taking the corner!
“So I’m pretty sure that he’s going to get a penalty on that, five or 10 seconds and drop behind Sainz.”
Ultimately the stewards took no further action, meaning Verstappen has secured the P5 position where he finished after the Hamilton collision.
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