Horner vs Rosberg: Verstappen Row Explained

Rosberg, who commented the Race for Sky Sports F1 with David Croft, found the time penalty of ten seconds that Verstappen received for a collision with George Russell ‘very mild’. He thought the Dutchman should have got a black flag.

“The first collision was George’s fault. He braked too late, got upset and tapped Max, so he had to over the spout zone. This should not catch up,” said the champion of 2016. “Red Bull then made a mistake by saying that he had to pass George. Do you say that I have to do this? And then he braked and rammed against George, which is even worse.

Rosberg went one step further: “In my opinion, this is a much too slight punishment. Just think of what Sebastian Vettel did to Lewis Hamilton in Baku 2017.” Vettel sent his Ferrari deliberately against the Mercedes of Hamilton during the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan, while the field drove behind the Safety Car, after he felt he had a Brake test from the Brit.

Rosberg continued: “It looked like a very conscious revenge action. Waiting for your opponent and then riding it because you think he drove you off the track earlier at the first corner. That is something that is absolutely unacceptable. According to the rules, that should just be a black flag. If you wait for someone to tap it afterwards, then that is a black flag.” In 2017, Vettel received a stop and go-penalty of ten seconds and three penalty points for his super license for ‘driving in a potentially dangerous way’.

When Christian Horner was asked for Rosberg’s statements after the race, the team boss kept it in a short response: “Nico is rather sensational in his comments, let’s just keep it up.” Verstappen was also confronted with Rosberg’s comments. “Yes, that’s his opinion,” he responded to the written media, including Motorsport.com. “Everyone can have an opinion.”