Nico Rosberg Disagrees with Penalty Handed to Lewis Hamilton

Published 11/19/2019, 11:46 AM EST

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2016 Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg normally reviews every Formula One race on his YouTube channel. So, in the wake of a VERY exciting Brazilian Grand Prix, the German had plenty to talk about.

Among them was the late incident surrounding ex-teammate Lewis Hamilton and Alexander Albon. The former Mercedes driver was surprised at the decision to give Lewis Hamilton a five-second penalty. According to his observation, Alex Albon “left the door open” for him in Brazil, and Hamilton took the opportunity.

Needless to say, the stewards were not about to go easy, even on a 6-time world champion. So, Hamilton’s podium finish at Interlagos went to a delighted Carlos Sainz. In the end, poor old Lewis Hamilton dropped to P7.

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A repentant Hamilton “massively apologised” to Albon after the race, and all was seemingly forgiven. However, Rosberg was of the opinion that a penalty was too harsh as the Red Bull gave Hamilton too much space.

“Of course, Lewis was more at fault,” Rosberg said via his YouTube channel. “Albon was less at fault, but he left the door open completely for Lewis to dive in.

“Lewis did get quite far in there, but I don’t know if it was worth a five-second penalty. With the way things have been going this year, maybe I would have preferred no penalty because Albon has some fault as well. It is not 1oo per cent Lewis.

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“Albon left the door open and he should have left a bit of space. There is no reason why you can’t leave a little space.

Alex Albon later confessed that he wasn’t expecting Lewis to dive down the inside. However, Rosberg felt that it was not a strong enough explanation for the incident.

On the other hand, he admitted that the stewards should not have imposed a penalty, and chalked it down to pure racing.

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Moving to the juicier content, Nico Rosberg opened up on the latest Ferrari clash between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc. He firmly laid the blame on compatriot, Vettel for costing the team a decent points finish.

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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