Rosberg found guilty and penalized for his collision with Hamilton

The final lap of the ninth Grand Prix of the 2016 Formula 1 season was epic. With a dominant Lewis Hamilton and a defensive Nico Rosberg, the race ending was bound to be eventful.

Author of an attack in turn number 2, Lewis Hamilton saw his teammate close the door on him on the outside and prevent him from taking his turn. The two Mercedes touched for the first time. Off the track, the Briton returned abruptly to the outside line of the following straight, but with Rosberg already there, the two men touched once again.

Declared guilty of this incident, Nico Rosberg received a 10-second penalty to his race time, which nevertheless did not change his final ranking: « After considering numerous pieces of evidence provided by the two drivers, video footage, and telemetry data, it was clear that car 44 (Hamilton) was ahead of car 6 (Rosberg) […] and that the driver of car 44 could clearly have taken the corner on the track without the collision. Car 6 did not leave car 44 “the room on the track,” and consequently, the driver of car 6 was responsible for the collision. » declared the board of stewards after the race.

Moreover, Rosberg received a two-point penalty on his license for continuing the race with a heavily damaged car. A minor setback for the German, who was understandably disappointed with the outcome: « I was on the inside of the track, I have the right to defend myself. I don’t need to take the ideal line. I had Lewis on the outside and wanted to keep him in that position while leaving him enough space on the track. That has always been my intention. It’s obvious there was enough room for him. You can see it from every angle. Of course, after this collision, things can be seen differently. »

A new chapter in the battle between the two Mercedes drivers that will surely make headlines and give Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda headaches by next weekend…