Official: No instructions at Mercedes, Rosberg, penalized, acknowledges his responsibility
In a statement published on its website, Mercedes AMG F1 indicated that it was maintaining its policy and allowing its drivers to fight. Nico Rosberg acknowledged his responsibility in the Belgian Grand Prix incident.
A meeting took place this Friday at the Mercedes AMG F1 headquarters between Toto Wolff, the team’s executive commercial director, Paddy Lowe, the executive technical director, and their two drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. At the end of it, a statement was published on the German team’s website.
During this meeting, Nico acknowledged his responsibility in the contact that occurred on the 2nd lap of the Belgian Grand Prix and apologized for this error in judgment. Appropriate disciplinary measures have been taken for this incident, explains Mercedes, without specifying their nature.
For many observers, starting with current drivers like Jenson Button or Felipe Massa, or even non-F1 drivers like Mark Webber, the maneuver performed by the championship leader in the Combes at Spa was deemed impossible to succeed, and they were surprised it was even attempted.
« Mercedes-Benz remains committed to pure and fair racing because it is the right way to win world titles. It’s good for the team, for the fans, and for Formula 1. »
« Lewis and Nico understand and accept the team’s rule number 1: there must be no contact between the team’s cars on the track. It has been clearly indicated that another incident of this kind will not be tolerated. But Nico and Lewis are our drivers, and we believe in them. They remain free to fight for the Formula 1 World Championship. » It remains to be seen what Mercedes will do in the event of a potential new incident on track.
A few minutes after this statement, Nico Rosberg, on his Facebook page, himself published a statement indicating that he had spent a lot of time thinking about what happened during the [Belgian GP] and discussing it with the team, before apologizing: I have already expressed my regret regarding the incident but, after meeting with Toto, Paddy, and Lewis today, I want to go further and describe it as a mistake in judgment on my part. The number 1 rule for us as teammates is that we must not make contact, but that’s exactly what happened. For this mistake in judgment, I apologize to Lewis and the team. I also want to apologize to the fans who were deprived of our battle for first place in Belgium.
