The relationship between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton becomes even more strained

Communication specialists often claim that body language is even more important than words in describing someone’s feelings. In this case, there was no doubt after the race: in the traditional rest room before the podium, the two Mercedes drivers did not exchange a single glance, with Nico Rosberg resolutely turning his back on a delighted Lewis Hamilton. The latter clearly did not hide his satisfaction, juggling with the bottles at his disposal.

Hostilities resumed during the press conference when Lewis Hamilton loudly stated that he had never been threatened by his teammate and that he did not feel concerned about having indirectly allowed Sebastian Vettel to catch up to his teammate: « When the race started, we knew that the Ferraris were very, very good on long stints and in their tire management. So my goal was to manage my tires and take care of my car. I was never threatened by Nico during the entire race. So I managed and really enjoyed it to be honest. »

This could not, therefore, reopen the wounds to his teammate’s pride, who was then much more aggressive than on the track: « It’s interesting to hear you, Lewis, that you only thought about yourself for your pace in the front and that necessarily compromised my race. By going slower than necessary at the start of the stints, it allowed Sebastian to be very close to me and it opened up the possibility for Sebastian to make pit stops earlier to try to overtake me. So I had to cover him. My tires started dying at the end of the race because my stint was much longer. So I’m not happy about that today. »

The final word came back to the Briton, who then responded tersely: « It’s not my job to look after Nico’s race. My job is to manage the car and bring it home as quickly as possible. That’s what I did. I didn’t do anything intentionally to slow the cars down. I was just focusing on myself. If Nico wanted to pass, he could have tried, but he didn’t. »

The debriefing between the two drivers is likely to be tense…