Nico Rosberg says he is ‘extremely gutted’ to have been involved in the first lap crash with teammate Lewis Hamilton that took both drivers out of the race.
Rosberg jumped ahead of Hamilton, who started on pole, around turn one before Hamilton attacked Rosberg at turn four and was forced onto the grass.
Hamilton lost control of his Mercedes and hit a hapless Rosberg, leaving both drivers in the gravel trap and out on lap one.
It’s understood Rosberg was in the wrong engine mode, which explained why Hamilton gained so much ground on the run to turn four before the accident occurred.
“I was aware of the situation and saw Lewis coming closer, so I went for the usual racing driver action of closing the inside line and closing the door as early as I could,” Rosberg said after the race.
“I made it very clear I wasn’t going to leave any space on the inside and I was very surprised he went for the gap anyway.”
The race stewards concluded after a discussion that the crash was a racing incident, which Rosberg says the team will accept.
“The stewards have now decided it’s a racing incident, which we will accept, but overall I am just extremely gutted, it was my race to win and our race to win.”
Rosberg apologised to his team, praising them for their hard work to build two race winning cars
“I am very gutted for all my colleagues, I’m well aware of all the hard work you have put in to these two cars.”
