Rosberg escapes serious punishment for causing Hamilton crash

Nico Rosberg escaped with just a slap on the wrist after carelessly crashing into Mercedes colleague Lewis Hamilton at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Silver Arrows touched at turn two on the last lap at the Red Bull Ring, costing Rosberg his front wing and first place, as polesitter Hamilton raced away for victory.

Rosberg nursed his car home in fourth, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen capitalising to finish on the podium behind the double-defending world champion.

Both Mercedes stars blamed the other after the race, but the stewards were in no doubt that championship leader Rosberg was at fault.

However, a 10-second penalty did little to affect the outcome of the race, with Rosberg having finished 16 seconds ahead of fifth-place Daniel Ricciardo.

As a result, he maintains an 11-point advantage over Hamilton.

An F1 statement confirmed: “Having taken note of the extensive evidence given by both drivers and the video and telemetry data, it was apparent that Car 44 (Hamilton) was in front of Car 6 (Rosberg) – i.e. more than fully alongside – and that the driver of Car 44 could have clearly made the turn (T2) on the track, if not for the resultant collision.

“Car 6 did not allow Car 44 ‘racing room’ and hence the driver of Car 6 was responsible for the collision.”

Rosberg was also given two penalty points on his license, if a driver accrues 12 points in a 12-month period they face suspension for a race.