I was in no doubt, as Nico Rosberg drove in to Lewis Hamilton and broke his front wing against Lewis' left rear tyre, that the collision was deliberate. Formula One drivers race wheel to wheel, two and three cars abreast, weaving and making split second decisions, and yet Nico was unable to avoid such an avoidable incident. If there was any doubt about Nico's intentions, then they were instantly quashed, after the podium celebrations, when the Executive Director of the Mercedes Formula One Team, Toto Wolff, was interviewed by the BBC. It was clear what his opinion was and the anger was evident in his demeanour. It wasn't only Wolff who made his feelings known on the subject. Niki Lauda, usually a big supporter of Nico Rosberg, was furious with the driver as well and both of them alluded to the fact that Nico is in deep trouble.
I still believe that this isn't the first time Nico has cheated, to help himself or Mercedes. He did it in China, when he spun in the final minute of Q3, on the start/finish straight, preventing anybody from putting in competitive times. He did it in Monaco, in a similar incident, when he feigned incompetence, had a big lock up in the final minute, and wrecking everybody's final fast laps. And now, today, he has done it again by blatantly destroying Hamilton's race. People tip toe around it and defend the German, race after race, but these drivers work to an incomprehensible level of precision and to claim that one of the men fighting for the Championship can make this many 'convenient' errors, implies a level of incompetency that is laughable.
To get back to the fair racing, it appeared that we were going to be treated to another last lap climax, and it came, just not where we expected. It looked like Nico Rosberg would catch up to Daniel Ricciardo just before the end, however Nico was simply unable to close the gap and the Aussie smiler was on the top step again. Ricciardo is becoming a real fan favourite and he takes Red Bull Racing's total win tally up to fifty. The Climactic finish came further down the order, where the battle for fifth was taking place, between Magnussen, Alonso, Button and Vettel. The action through the last three laps, for these four drivers, was the most confusing edge-of-the-seat racing I've ever seen. It would take about fifteen minutes to describe all of the position changes, but essentially Sebastian Vettel ended up at the front of that pack in fifth, whilst Fernando Alonso dropped off at the end with a problem and finished eighth. Driver of the Day is a difficult one this week but I would have to say that I think Vettel's success in that final fifth place battle earns him the accolade.
It was a thrilling race, with a fair amount of controversy and one big story that has been brewing and simmering for the last few months. I predict there will be plenty more twists and turns in the story of Hamilton and Rosberg's rocky relationship, before the end of the season.
Check out The F1 Spectator podcast and listen to The F1 Spectator himself.
The Result:
