After their latest coming together in the Austrian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton emerging ahead to win following the last-lap contact between he and Mercedes AMG Petronas teammate Nico Rosberg, both drivers shared their thoughts on the situation.
Hamilton secured the win and gained further points in the championship while Rosberg fell to fourth with a damaged front wing.
Rosberg, who came under fire after the race and is under investigation by the stewards, spoke to NBCSN’s Will Buxton afterwards.
The German said he had a brake issue.
“I’m massively disappointed for sure. Because I thought I was going to win that, then my brakes overheated on the last lap and that changed the brakes a lot on the pedal. That made it massively difficult,” Rosberg said.
“But anyways, I was still in a good position to defend. I had the inside line; it’s my corner. I was very surprised Lewis decided to turn in.”
Asked by Buxton why turn in late or whether he would have pushed Hamilton off, Rosberg replied, “It was a bit of both. I was struggling to slow the car. That was the main one really. But anyways I’m on inside, it’s my position, I have the corner, I have the right to dictate the way.”
Hamilton explained the contact from his vantage point in the post-race press conference.
“Nico made a mistake into Turn 1. Then he clipped inside curb and went wide. I got a good run up to Turn 2, he blocked the inside. So the only place I could go was outside,” Hamilton said.
“I was on the racing line. He was in my blind spot. I assumed he was still there. So I went very wide… left him plenty of room. As I started to turn, I was at edge of track, he collided with me. My guys said he had something wrong with the brakes. So I’m not sure exactly what happened. Then I came back on track as quick as I could. It was close between us there.
“If he did have the brake problem, that would explain why he let off so early.
“I never gave up. I pushed all the way.”
NBC commentators Steve Matchett and David Hobbs also discussed the situation. That video is below: