Nico Rosberg said he “assumed” Daniel Ricciardo would make way for him when the pair tangled during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The made made contact at the exit of turn one while battling over second place, leaving Rosberg with a puncture which dropped him to eighth.
“I assumed it was my corner,” Rosberg told reporters after the race, “because I took the ideal line and he just went straight on because he braked very late, or too late.”
“But he still had his front wing there and didn’t back out of it. But the FIA decided no action so nobody has fault then, I guess.”
Rosberg admitted he was “gutted” about the outcome of the race after he had spent most of it ahead of team mate and championship rival Lewis Hamilton.
“It was going very well,” he said. “I was very pleased with the race until lap 64.”
“And after that just nowhere and that’s a real pity. Sport is really tough sometimes, to lose all those points, but that’s the way it is.”
2015 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Vettel wins Driver of the Weekend for third time
- Hungary rated fifth-best race since 2008
- 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Vote for your Hungarian GP Driver of the Weekend
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
26th July 2015, 16:31
Fernando Alonso: “You always have to leave a space!” – If Rosberg wanted to be sure of the podium, he should have done a cut back and not the ideal racing line.
JCost (@jcost)
26th July 2015, 17:11
Actually I think Nico has a point. Too bad his opinion was quite different last year in Belgium …
Frasier (@frasier)
26th July 2015, 17:57
But the drivers steward was the same guy, Pirro, he wasn’t about to admit he was wrong last year and give Ricciardo a drive-through. Too bad the earlier drive through decision against Hamilton made them look like a bunch of inconsistent amateurs
Traverse
26th July 2015, 16:32
This was ultimately Rosberg’s fault. It is reminiscent of Hamilton’s collision with Kobayashi at Spa 2011. Hamilton didn’t give Kob room on the outside and needlessly cut across him, resulting in contact that ruined Ham’s race. Video link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmreol_hamilton-kobayashi-kazasi_auto
Hamilton accepted responsibility after seeing the replay (Ham initially said it was Kobayashi’s fault). Link: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/08/28/hamilton-accepts-blame-kobayashi-crash/
Ryan (@ryanisjones)
26th July 2015, 16:37
Completely different circumstances – Kobayashi was alongside Hamilton. This video is way more similar. Commonly accepted as Rosberg’s fault.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeGeeWaOLU
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th July 2015, 16:47
@ryanisjones
Whether or not that’s true, the stewards correctly viewed it as a racing incident.
Ryan (@ryanisjones)
26th July 2015, 18:11
Fair play, but that’s my disagreement. The following driver is making an active choice to keep their wing there, and the incident could be easily avoided if they backed off. Considering their car is clearly not alongside the car in front, they have no claim to that space. I do respect that this decision is, at the very least, consistent. Still disagree with it now, as much as I did back then.
Neiana (@neiana)
27th July 2015, 6:34
@ryanisjones if a driver can just push another driver off the track on account of being marginally in front, then .. oh wait, you are correct because Hamilton did that to Bottas.
Ryan (@ryanisjones)
27th July 2015, 12:02
@neiana
“Marginally” in front is not equal to back wheel by front wing. I would call that substantially in front.
Patrick (@paeschli)
26th July 2015, 17:17
Wait:
– Hamilton cuts back across the track in front of Rosberg in Belgium, and it’s Rosberg’s fault.
– Rosberg cuts back across the track in front of Ricciardo in Hungary, and it’s still Robserg’s fault?
Double standards?
evered7 (@evered7)
26th July 2015, 17:23
Considering that it was a front wing to rear wheel contact, if we are to apportion any blame at all, it would be on Ricciardo. He came out of nowhere locking his brakes and could have avoided contact as well since he knew where his car would be in relation to Rosberg.
If this is Rosberg’s fault then Hamilton needs to take blame for Spa last year.
So no penalty after considering it as a racing incident seems fair to me. Although both drivers could have tread careful considering a lot of points were on offer.
Ryan (@ryanisjones)
26th July 2015, 18:07
@paeschli +1
I think it was Rosberg’s responsibility to get his wing out of the way of Hamilton, and Riccardo’s responsibility to get his wing out of the way of Rosberg. I don’t understand how people are blaming this incident on Rosberg at all.
Scepter (@scepter)
26th July 2015, 18:28
I Completely agree, in Singapore 2011 Hamilton got penalize for a similar incident with Massa’s Ferrari, but i guess it comes down to which drivers and which constructors get penalized.
Trenthamfolk (@)
29th July 2015, 21:44
it was Rosberg’s fault because, as he said, he assumed that Ricardo would get out of his way. He assumed wrong and paid the price. The decision was his, he made the wrong call. His fault.
Neiana (@neiana)
27th July 2015, 6:36
@paeschli
Wasn’t Rosberg behind Hamilton, then drove into him by not braking quickly enough? In this case, Ricciardo was maintaining his position and Rosberg literally turned across him. The difference is Rosberg accelerated into Hamilton last year and Ricciardo merely maintained speed.
gDog
27th July 2015, 8:46
The two big differences being that:
1. In Spa they were on the entry to a left hand turn, whereas Hungary they were at the beginning of a straight.
2. Rosberg turned into to Hamilton – in the opposite direction to that of the track.
Strontium (@strontium)
27th July 2015, 11:26
^^^ This!
I don’t understand why people cannot see the two accidents are completely different.
matt90
27th July 2015, 10:57
Mid-corner and corner exits are already vastly different circumstances, even before factoring in that in one case a driver needlessly clung on with his nose just sticking up the inside of the upcoming corner, and in the other the drivers came from vastly different directions and different speeds. Rosberg had that corner won already as Ricciardo’s line was so compromised, and so he only needed to tighten his line marginally. Ricciardo’s onboard shows how quickly Rosberg sweeps from Ricciardo’s peripheral to directly in front- I don’t think that he could reasonably judge how close Rosberg was going to get.
Mike (@mike)
29th July 2015, 1:19
If the call is based on judgement of speeds and distances, I don’t think either would have been easily able to see or judge it.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
26th July 2015, 16:35
Once again showing his judgement on wheel-to-wheel racing isn’t really the best among the top drivers.
Patrick (@paeschli)
26th July 2015, 17:01
Well he was travelling at much higher speed than Ricciardo. I think it was normal to assume Ricciardo would give him enough space since Ricciardo ‘missed’ his braking point. The only person who had a clear vision of the situation at that point was Ricciardo: he had as much space as he wanted to avoid a collision. Rosberg on the other hand, couldn’t do anything once he commited to the corner.
I have to wonder, would people here be defending Verstappen if he had done the same thing as Ricciardo? I’m sure people would be bashing him for trying a pass from way too far back.
diarmuid talbot (@)
26th July 2015, 17:24
that would be the very same if it was hamilton.It’s just that after the incidents in monaco and spa alot of hamilton fans and just normal fans lost alot of respect for him
pking008 (@pking008)
27th July 2015, 5:16
I couldn’t agree more. Roseberg’s action today was akin to someone crossing a zebra crossing, then seeing a car furiously gunning it towards you and you continue crossing at a leisurely pace simply because you have right of way. That’s plain dumb because if you get run over, you’ll be the one with the broken leg or far worse. Chopping across like that was simply not on especially given that he is fighting for the WDC and needs to take far less risk while Ricciado has fas less to loose.
That said, I think Ricciardo needs to cool it a bit. He’s touched far too many other drivers during passing this season.
Neiana (@neiana)
27th July 2015, 6:38
Rosberg had all the opportunity in the world and he is the one who had all of the space. Ricciardo was 100% on the limit of the track and Rosberg just chopped him off. It was an intentional move that could have been avoided, whereas Ricciardo literally did nothing but maintain his car on the track.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
26th July 2015, 16:48
What does Rosberg expect? This is racing! If anything, I think Rosberg should have given Ricciardo more space. This incident was Rosberg’s fault. He cut off Ricciardo and gave him no space. The puncture was his own doing.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
26th July 2015, 16:52
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ws6y7ULEcc This video clearly shows Rosberg cutting across Ricciardo and giving him no space.
Bolide (@mim5)
26th July 2015, 17:02
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H1zpRGcmeOg This video clearly shows Hamilton cutting across Rosberg and giving him no space.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
26th July 2015, 17:20
Nope. That video shows Hamilton and Rosberg screwing up.
Edgar
26th July 2015, 17:40
If you really thing the dynamics of these two incidents are the same, you’re watching the wrong sport.
Bolide (@mim5)
26th July 2015, 17:55
The dynamics are quite similar and if you seriously think they aren’t maybe you’re the one watching the wrong sport
RB (@frogmankouki)
26th July 2015, 18:13
I agree you could say they have the same outcome but the incidents are quite different. The main difference is that the Spa incident happened inside a tight chicane where the racing line changes as it traverses the two apexes. This incident happened in a fast right hand turn that didn’t require Nico to return to the white line so aggressively. With that said I’d say today was a racing incident with slight blame on Nico. ( Also if you listen to the on-board of Ricciardo you can hear him lift as Nico attempts to close him out)
Edgar
26th July 2015, 18:55
for Mim5
See? Now, if you think you can elaborate why you think it was similar, go on
Bolide (@mim5)
26th July 2015, 19:17
@frogmankouki , edgar first things first Ricciardo didn’t need to make such an aggressive overtaking move in the first place, missing his braking point and locking up. Rosberg left him enough room when he locked up and honestly during the whole race everyone used that line. Okay, Ricciardo and his front wing were there and Rosberg shouldn’t have assumed Ricciardo would give him space but considering Rosberg left him enough room as he made his banzai move maybe he should have.
In Spa Rosberg tried a move on the outside and maybe Hamilton should have been conscious of his presence.
What I’m trying to say is that if this racing incident was 100% Rosbergs fault maybe the one in Spa wasn’t his to blame totally.
Robert (@gicu)
26th July 2015, 20:58
@mim5
Ricciardo didn’t need to make such an aggressive overtaking move in the first place
The only way that RedBull would overtake that Mercedes was a banzai move. Not enough grunt from that Renault engine for a run-of-the-mill overtake. So yes, if he wanted to overtake, that sort of move was necessary.
during the whole race everyone used that line.
There’s a difference between using a racing line on your own and using a line whilst racing someone else. Ricciardo keeps his car as left as the track goes, Rosberg just misjudges the distance and believes Daniel’s front wing is cleared and he can cover the inside for turn 2.
Bolide (@mim5)
27th July 2015, 7:51
@gicu well desperate and greedy moves for the ‘win’ dont end up well. lets just see what Ricciardo gained from that move, absolutely nothing. in the process a championship contender almost got no points whilst his own teammate took 2nd place. he should have probably waited one more lap and the move he had made before all race would have counted. And dont forget this is hardly the first time hes driving with his elbows out when the win is in sight, Monaco for instance is a good example
Patrick (@paeschli)
26th July 2015, 17:04
Look at Ricciardo’s wheel: at no point he steers to the left to take avoiding action. It was up to him to choose to crash or not at that point. He chose to crash.
Jim jones
26th July 2015, 17:11
Seriously?
Ricciardo has his wheel held straight, Rosberg did not have to chop across him to keep that position, it was already his but he chose to take that risk and it backfired on him massively, much to my delight.
Why would you expect Ricciardo to take avoiding action? He was already right on the very edge of the track he couldn’t go any further to the left and you wouldn’t expect someone fighting for a world championship to make a stupid move like that.
Patrick (@paeschli)
26th July 2015, 17:22
I don’t know, for the whole pitting for a new front wing thing maybe.
Rosberg brakes for the corner. He sees a complete nuthead blazing past him because he missed his braking point. Rosberg turns in in the exact same manner as the lap before and gets hit.
That’s how I see it. Maybe we should settle for a racing incident like the stewards did, but I won’t accept people saying this was 100% Rosberg’s fault.
Edgar
26th July 2015, 17:41
That’s where he did wrong.
He CAN’T do the same line if there’ a guy there.
Ricciardo was on the limits of the track there. You expected him to go outside to give Rosberg space??
Robert (@gicu)
26th July 2015, 21:03
Look at Ricciardo’s wheel: at no point he steers to the left to take avoiding action
Well, that’s because “to the left” is the runoff area, something that isn’t part of the track, per se. The fact that you imply that Ricciardo should have turned left and leave the track to avoid Rosberg just proves whose fault this was.
OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 41 wins!!! For Jules (@)
26th July 2015, 17:03
So Rosberg assumed something that actually happened. In the maneuvre he was coming from behind, as Dan was already in front and as close to the track limits as possible. So it was Nico who had to break or at least take a different line.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th July 2015, 17:04
Considering:
a) Nico saw Daniel totally mess that corner up
b) Nico knew Daniel had no speed coming out of the corner,
c) Nico knew Daniel was still recovering form his mistake
I don’t understand how you can decide to cut across the guy, who’s right on the edge of the track. He had all the track on his right to use and he’d have lost NO time to Daniel because of the reasons mentioned above. Instead he thought Daniel would just lift off the throttle even more and let the guy by.
It just seems poor judgement from Nico. He blew his chances of really put pressure on Lewis for the championship before the summer break. I can’t forgive him for that, it’d have made things a lot more interesting. Just when Lewis had a completely off race (maybe his aunt was driving his car today), Nico needed to be intelligent and he wasn’t.
I’m glad it was just a racing incident. F1 would be a lot better if many of the crashes and touches were racing incidents and not moves deserving a penalty.
Todfod (@todfod)
26th July 2015, 19:19
I completely agree. Nico saw Daniel recovering from a dive bomb, and instead of taking a cleaner line to avoid risk, he decided to squeeze Daniel in an attempt to get him to lift off the throttle.
It was aggressive driving from both drivers, but Nico has no one but himself to blame for his puncture. He could have avoided the risk, but he tried to bully the other driver out of it and it backfired.
I thought today was one of Nico’s poorest drives. He couldn’t pressurise Vettel or Kimi at any point in the race despite having a better car. All he had to do towards the end was solidify his 2nd position, but he blew that as well with a brain fade moment.
I though Rosberg and Maldonado were the poorest drivers of the day.
Kimiwillbeback
26th July 2015, 19:20
Oh please give it a rest. This was a pure racing incident, same as Hamilton-Rosberg last year. The stewards judgement was correct, no further action.
Be careful what you wish for folks. If there has to be some kind of punishment every single time two drivers touch each other in a race you won’t see much action in years to come.
Of course I feel gutted for Rosberg now, just like I did for Hamilton last year. But we are talking about an error of an inch or two at high speed. It happens.
Robbie (@robbie)
29th July 2015, 12:02
@kimiwillbeback I agree. NR did nothing beyond being involved in a racing incident. If he was cutting across to secure track position…well…that’s what you do. Happens all the time. But NR can’t win with many fans. He hasn’t the same mojo as LH et al to many people and even when he shows it it still isn’t good enough. Let’s not forget how NR took LH in the first corner.
OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 41 wins!!! For Jules (@)
26th July 2015, 17:08
So Nr assumed something that had already happened. Dan had overtaken NR and he had the car on the left. NR should have taken the car more to the right to make the pass.
Yoshisune (@yobo01)
26th July 2015, 17:10
I still think that Ricciardo was very lucky to get away without a penalty. That was a bit careless and honestly I fail to see how people think it’s Rosberg’s fault, how can you leave the space for a guy who’s just divebombed you and is now way off the racing line and at a completely different speed than yours? In my opinion Ricciardo should have been a bit calmer and should have left the space to Nico, sticking the front wing wouldn’t have done him any good in any scenario.
And, to be honest, it’s not the first time that Ricciardo gets away with collisions that he caused this season. Which is very puzzling, because apparently now they are also penalizing people for causing a collision due to drivers losing control of their car (Alonso at Monaco and Hamilton today).
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th July 2015, 17:19
@yobo01
By moving a few of centimetres to the right.
From Rosberg’s comments it’s clear he knew where Ricciardo was, and Ricciardo was right at the edge of the track so he couldn’t be expected to move any further aside. The rules don’t require him to back off or jump out of Rosberg’s way, so I don’t see what you’re blaming him for.
Patrick (@paeschli)
26th July 2015, 17:29
Meh, it was much easier for Ricciardo to move to the left than to ask Rosberg to move to the right. Rosberg was carrying a lot of speed to the corner: he would have had to brake in the middle of the corner and there was always the risk of him losing the back end in doing so (like I said above, Rosberg already ‘commited’ himself to the corner). Meanwhile Ricciardo was driving a lot slower and had a better view of the situation. There are kilometers of run-off for the drivers safety, why not use them to avoid contact?
Edgar
26th July 2015, 17:52
lol, so you’re suggesting he shoud go OFF track for Rosberg to pass?
Unbelievable.
Remember they were going for a DRS zone there. It was still a fight for position. It wasn’t over.
And you use Senna’s helmet for an avatar!
Traverse
26th July 2015, 17:59
And you use Senna’s helmet for an avatar! Ouch! But spot on. :)
Senna: “If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are competing, we are competing to win”.
Traverse
26th July 2015, 18:11
oops. meant to use the ‘quote’ button, not ‘bold’.
Patrick (@paeschli)
26th July 2015, 19:02
Damn, you just won this argument :/
On a more serious note:
Was there a gap? Rosberg had not started turning in yet when Ricciardo divebombed him.
I’m suggesting Ricciardo could have avoided contact by moving over to the left when he saw Rosberg alongside him. He should go off track to avoid contact, not to ‘let Rosberg pass’.
That would have been better than having to do an extra pit-stop, no?
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
26th July 2015, 19:53
Why does Ricciardo need to move to the left? Is he inferior to Rosberg and that Rosberg is his king? Rosberg was the one who should have avoided contact, but he decided to squeeze out Ricciardo. If Ricciardo moved anymore to the left, he would have been off the track. He had every right to stay where he was but Rosberg cut him off, giving himself a puncture.
Edgar
26th July 2015, 20:00
On the same note, you can say that Rosberg could have avoided it and also avoid the puncture., no?
And Rosberg had plenty of space to do it, while Ricciardo didn’t.
Patrick (@paeschli)
26th July 2015, 20:25
From what I’ve heard, it’s quite difficult to see where exactly the car behind is with the small mirrors on the car. Like I already said numerous times: Ricciardo was behind, and so had a better view of what was going to happen.
Once Rosberg was alongside, it was too late to change anything. Meanwhile Ricciardo could have avoided the contact in the last moments before it happened. Ricciardo had every right to stay where he was, indeed, but that doesn’t mean he made the right choice when he saw Rosberg passing him, only inches away from his car.
Puffy (@puffy)
27th July 2015, 8:09
“Hamilton was clearly ahead and had the racing line, so the burden of responsibility falls entirely on Rosberg’s shoulders.” – Keith Collantine after Belgium 2014
@keithcollantine Rosberg was clearly ahead and had the racing line, so why is it that again the burden of responsibility falls entirely on his shoulders? Am I missing some subtlety here? In both incidents I would apportion blame amongst both drivers, the driver in front should leave room when he knows there’s potentially another car on the normal racing line, and the driver behind, who has best visibility (and therefore in my opinion is best placed to avoid contact) should know when to back out to avoid an incident.