Earthquake at Mercedes: preserving unity

Installed once again on the front line, the two Mercedes could expect to dominate the Spanish Grand Prix head and shoulders above the rest.

That being said, on a strictly personal level, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg also knew they had to emerge as the leaders out of the first corners to dominate the rest of the race. Deprived of the lead at the start and wanting to immediately reclaim his position, Hamilton attempted to pounce on Rosberg in the long bend towards the fourth corner.

Only, the until now undefeated driver this season closed the door on him without hesitation. From then on, the collision was inevitable: spectacular images of this incident between the two men who ended their race in the gravel trap.

Immediately, Niki Lauda blamed Lewis Hamilton: « It’s very simple for me: there was a misjudgment by Hamilton, I blame him more than Nico. He was too aggressive. Why would Nico, who was in front, have given him room? »

More polished, Toto Wolff did not accuse either of the two drivers. From his executive director’s position, he declared: “We let our drivers compete with each other, sometimes this kind of situation can happen! I will not directly blame anyone.”

Reacting to Niki Lauda’s stance, Toto Wolff indeed brought more balance to the situation: « When you talk to both drivers, when you have the data in front of you, things are quite different. »

The senior team official played the peacemaker in front of the press by stating that “Lewis has forgiven Nico. Both know what is important for us. Of course, things are not always simple, everyone has their opinion, but I am sure their relationship will not be negatively influenced.”

But on the drivers’ side, of course, everyone was trying to defend their position. Nico Rosberg thus delivered his version of the events: “I was watching Lewis approach me. So, I carried out a classic defense action by closing the door as much as I could. I was very clear in not leaving him any space, yet surprisingly, he still wanted to overtake me. In the end, I’m gutted, I came here to win, we could have easily done it, it’s terribly frustrating to end up in the gravel trap like this. But now I must look forward.”

For his part, Lewis Hamilton also seemed confident, even though the triple world champion was tempering his words: “First of all, I have to apologize to the entire team. Not delivering a great performance for the people at the factory is honestly… one of the most disappointing things there is.”

He added that he believes it was his teammate’s engine mode selection error that opened the door for him: « I don’t think I made an aggressive maneuver, you know, it’s a racing incident. I got a good start, but Rosberg overtook me before the first corner. Then he made a mistake with his engine setting, he was slower, so I had to make an overtaking choice. I went to the right: there was space at first but he closed the door, I was already alongside him when the incident happened. »

LH: The gap was there and, if you’re a racing driver, you go for that gap. We then saw what happened. #SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/1Zf3qu9kcz

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) May 15, 2016

After the incident at Spa in 2014, here’s finally another major twist in the Mercedes duo. In the drivers’ championship standings, Rosberg can at least find solace: he hasn’t lost any points to Hamilton. 43 points still separate the two men, even though Räikkönen has now moved into second place.

But what about the mental dynamics? We remember that the unfortunate Spa episode clearly affected the end of Nico Rosberg’s season. What will it be like for Lewis Hamilton, who continues to accumulate difficulties in 2016?

In any case, the FIA has ruled on this event, designating it as a simple racing incident. Neither Rosberg nor Hamilton will be penalized in Monaco. Both drivers will therefore have the opportunity to take their revenge on that cursed first Spanish lap…

WATCH: Hamilton & Rosberg’s #SpanishGP Turn 4 clash analysed in detail> https://t.co/6vTlbxNcbx #F1 pic.twitter.com/zwmIPRARD0

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 17, 2016