Nico Rosberg slams 'selfish' Lewis Hamilton as row engulfs Mercedes despite victory
MERCEDES have tried to diffuse the row between their “egocentric” drivers as Nico Rosberg told Lewis Hamilton he was ‘selfish’ after winning the Chinese Grand Prix.
Rosberg was furious with Hamilton for ‘driving too slowly’ when out in front, claiming not only could he not move closer to the Briton because doing so would ruin his tyres but that it was helping third-placed Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari close the gap.
Mercedes chief Niki Lauda boasted that his drivers needed to be selfish in order to win championships, while team principal Toto Wolff claimed both were correct and no one was to blame.
“Everyone drives selfish,” said Lauda. “These guys are egocentric b******s and that’s the only way to win and to win the championship. They are all the same. Nico gives the same to Lewis and Lewis the same to Nico if the s**t hits the fan. It’s the way it is and therefore we race.
“That is your [Nico’s] reaction after a race when you are second. It hurts. I was beaten by Alain Prost all the time in the old days and I was not happy. On the other hand, Nico is a guy who comes back quickly. There is only one week to the next race [in Bahrain] so all the talk and b******t will stop quickly when they start driving again on Friday, when he has to come back to his best level in qualifying.
“Lewis fights. He has the talent to fight. But I think Nico is as nasty as he is if he sees the chance, don’t worry.”
Wolff claimed quickly after the race that Hamilton’s job was to help secure the best result for the team but later backtracked, saying neither driver was in the wrong.
He said: “It was good for Nico to complain and good for Lewis to slow down. Lewis was the car in the lead, he was in control of the pace.
“Lewis did not do it on purpose. And we’ve cleared that now. There was not any intention from Lewis to slow Nico down in order to make him finish third or worse, 100 per cent. He didn’t know the gaps behind Nico, what he knew was that he needed to take the tyre longer than we have ever run it all weekend and that is why he decided to slow down the way he did.
“Consciously, we allow competition between the two of them and all of us want to see them race. You cannot take the DNA off the racing driver and expect him not to look after himself.”
Rosberg added: “We’ll have a discussion and see how it goes. I’ll let you know.”
