Mercedes bosses Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda have both put the blame on Nico Rosberg for a lap two collision between the German and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton passed Rosberg at the start of the race, but Rosberg found himself in the Briton’s slipstream on the second lap as they entered Les Combes.
The pair made contact with Rosberg’s front-wing making contact with Hamilton’s left-rear which caused a puncture.
Wolff criticised the move and described the race as “unacceptable.”
“You don’t try to overtake with the knife between your teeth on lap number two and damage both cars,” said Wolff.
“Lap number two of a long race, a crash between two team-mates. It is absolutely unacceptable.
“Lewis is very upset, but there is nothing we can say to him.”
Triple world champion and non-executive chairman Lauda was equally annoyed and put the blame on Rosberg.
“It is unacceptable for me that, in the second lap, Nico hits Lewis.
“If these things happen at the end of the race when they are fighting, we can talk about it. But on the second lap, it is ridiculous.”
He added that they would sit down and discuss the matter later.
Discussion about this post