Nico Rosberg is adamant his race was compromised by team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The middle stint of the race provided the spark to ignite the intra-team battle at Mercedes this year as Hamilton appeared to go slower than the car's true pace in order to back Rosberg into Sebastian Vettel behind. Hamilton claimed he was simply looking after his tyres, but Rosberg believes his team-mate unnecessarily made life difficult for him and jeopardised Mercedes' one-two victory .
"I didn't feel [my race was compromised], it was a fact that my race was compromised and it's a scenario we went through before the race, that for the individual in front, for himself and the best possible race, you back the guy in second into Sebastian Vettel," Rosberg said. "That's the best race for the guy in front but not good for the team because it puts the guy in second into an unnecessarily risky position.
"Did Lewis do it on purpose or not? I don't know, I can't answer that, but in the press conference he said he was just thinking about himself and that's an interesting indication and statement. That's it and I'm frustrated as a result because my race was compromised and my last stint was too long because I had to cover Sebastian and my tyres just died at the end of the race."
After the race Hamilton said Rosberg could have tried to pass him if he wanted, but Rosberg said he was in a Catch 22 situation because if he tried to pass Hamilton he would ruin his tyres and come under threat from Vettel and if he did not he would still face a challenge from Vettel because of the slower pace. He then used Vettel as an example of how fragile the front tyres were when running behind another car at the Shanghai International Circuit.
"The problem is that we have the same car and as soon as I tried to take him on he will just make sure he has a gap on the long straights so I can't get by and after one or two laps my tyres will take such a hit. Sebastian was saying the same because he was trying to take me on because he was quicker than us at the time and he couldn't even get into the DRS zone and all he did was destroy his tyres, so it was not a good approach for him. And in the end of the stint just before his pit stop, which was quite early in the stint, he dropped off from me a little bit again because his tyres were shot trying to get close to me. I learned that in the first stint by trying to put pressure on Lewis but it just shoots the tyres and it doesn't work."
Rosberg said Hamilton's pace soon after he and Vettel had pitted was further proof that his team-mate was trying to back him into the Ferrari.
"I'm just stating facts because it's impossible to know from the outside. The other facts are that once we pitted his pace was a lot quicker and looking a lot stronger overall. That's another fact, which suggests it would have been good for the team if he had sped up a bit earlier on."