SPORTS
Nico Rosberg disagrees with stewards after blaming Lewis Hamilton for Austria crash
Baku, July 4, AZERTAC
"l was very surprised that Lewis turned in and that caused a collision," says Nico; 10-second penalty does not affect result, according to skysports.
Nico Rosberg has continued to plead his innocence despite being found guilty by Austrian GP race stewards of causing his crash with Lewis Hamilton.
After the Spielberg stewards ruled that the Mercedes driver had failed to leave his team-mate 'racing room', Rosberg was given a retrospective 10-second penalty - a punishment which did not affect the race result or reduce the German's 11-point lead of the championship.
But an unhappy Rosberg said in a Facebook video: "They gave me the blame, which sucks. I respect that, but I am of a different opinion. But that doesn't help."
Rosberg was leading the race when the incident occurred on the second corner of the final lap as he strived to fend off his Mercedes team-mate.
"I defended the inside and felt in a strong position, I was convinced that I would make it stick. I went deep because that was the best way at the time to try and defend my corner, to keep him on the outside," he said.
"Of course I need to leave him room on the track, which I was doing, and then Lewis completely caught me by surprise and turned in.
"He said in an interview that I was in his blind spot so he couldn't see where I was, so maybe that might be the reason, but it just completely caught me by surprise that he turned in before we got near to the edge of the track even though I was there.
"So then I couldn't react and then we collided."
Speaking immediately after the race, Rosberg had argued that Hamilton had been to blame for the collision.
"I am absolutely gutted, it's unbelievable," he told Sky Sports F1. "I was sure to win the race and lost it on the last lap, that's pretty intense.
"I had the inside position, a strong position, and went a bit deep into the corner, but that's fine because I dictate, but l was very surprised that Lewis turned in and that caused a collision.
"We were battling. I was struggling a little bit with my brakes because they got a bit hot in the end and my tyres were degrading so that gave Lewis a chance.
"Nevertheless, I was confident I could defend accordingly and bring it home."