Rosberg’s incidents with Hamilton and Alonso – no penalty

He didn’t have race winning pace yesterday, but Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg drove like a man on fire in Bahrain. Lots of action from the German, including two hairy incidents with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. After investigation by the stewards after the race, the Chinese GP winner will get off scot-free.

The stewards of the meeting met with the drivers and their team reps after the race to look into the details of the clash. It happened when Hamilton exited the pits on lap 11 and tried to retake a position. Rosberg responded by moving across to the right on the exit of Turn 3, and Hamilton had to complete his pass off tarmac before Turn 4.

When Alonso wanted to overtake Rosberg, the latter tried the same thing, but this time, he succeeded in defending his position. The Ferrari man was furious as a result, and we felt a bit of his emotions via the radio.

The stewards said that because Rosberg had moved to the right to defend his position in a ‘constant and continuous straight line manner’ it was legal. Also, Hamilton was not alongside Rosberg as he began that move.

“Had a significant portion of Car 4 (Hamilton) been alongside that of Car 8 (Rosberg) whilst Car 4 still remained within the confines of the track, then the actions of Car 8 may not be considered legitimate,” they added, clearing the Alonso clash for the same reasons.

The Spaniard is still carrying anger. “I can only say that if, instead of such a wide run-off area there had been a wall, I’m not sure I’d be here now to talk about it,” he said. After hearing the investigation outcome, Alonso tweeted: “I think you are going to have fun in future races! You can defend position as you want and you can overtake outside the track! Enjoy!”

Those who saw the race, what do you think?

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Mon, 23 Apr 12 03:58:03 +0000.

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