Lewis Hamilton was found to have done nothing wrong by the FIA stewards during qualifying for the European Grand Prix, despite claims by Nico Rosberg that he was blocked by the McLaren driver.
Rosberg claimed Hamilton was ‘driving slowly and dangerously’ during Q3 which ruined both his and Pastor Maldonado’s laps.
“It had a big impact,” said Rosberg. “But that’s beside the point really. The point is that there is a rule, stating very clearly that you are not allowed to slow down in those last couple of corners unnecessarily. That is the rule, it is very clear, because it is dangerous.
“At the same time, as a side point, it did ruin my lap because I started the lap stuck behind him.”
However, after being summoned to the stewards’ room and hearing evidence from both drivers, the FIA deemed Hamilton not to be at fault.
“The sector time for Car 4 (Hamilton) was actually faster than a time set previously in that same sector by Car 8 Nico Rosberg, which is an indication that Car 4 was not being driven unnecessarily slowly between turns 21 and 25,” read an FIA statement.
“The smallest gap between Car 4 and Car 8 was 18 metres and 1.1 seconds.”
