Rosberg: Unbelievable, Vettel threw it away!

Nico Rosberg, whose presence as an enthusiastic and knowledgeable pundit is always a treat, did not mince his words when looking back on a dramatic race and Vettel's mistake, “Such a big one – unbelievable! He threw it away!"

“Yes, the conditions were difficult, we know that, and they are horrible as a driver because it’s so tough. But he still had a gap to the guys behind, he could have just taken out a little bit more, gone a little bit slower and taken it a bit easier, and he just chucked it into the wall. It’s so bad.”

Rosberg suggested there was no excuse for a driver of Vettel's experience and knowledge of Hockenheim, “You know the Sachskurve, that’s the one corner where there is no margin for error. So in that corner, you’re going to leave even more in reserve, and he didn’t. He went over the edge.”

Vettel was cruising to victory before the incident on lap 52, enjoying a ten seconds lead over Raikkonen at that point which coincided with a rain shower that affected parts of the track including Turn 12 where the incident happened.

One could argue that Mercedes had found some late race pace and were chasing hard, but Rosberg does not buy that theory, “We didn’t hear a radio conversation with Sebastian about that during the race, so I don’t think he was aware of that.

“He was just doing his own race and he messed it up, totally, which is unbelievable for him. That doesn’t happen too often for him,” added Rosberg.

Vettel appeared a tad too cool about the self-inflicted gap, but did concede afterwards, “I was in the barrier, and I realise I don’t get out from there, so how do you process that? I don’t think it was a huge mistake, it was a huge impact on the race because we retired.”

“But it’s not like tonight I will have difficulties to fall asleep because of what I’ve done wrong. It’s disappointing because up to that point everything was sweet. We didn’t need the rain.”

As for the positives, Vettel pointed out, “We have a strong car, so we can be as confident, more confident than anybody else. It was a very positive weekend, just one of those moments, and my mistake.”

“Apologies to the team, they did everything right and I had it in my hands. Small mistake, big disappointment,” added Vettel who now trails Hockenheim winner Lewis Hamilton in the championship standings by 17 points with the 12th round of the championship up next weekend in Hungary.