Rosberg: A disappointing first weekend

[Dare]

Typical Rueben's,make a mistake and blame the other guy.Personally
I think he got the Mercedes confused and rammed the wrong one





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   Nico Rosberg says he was "surprised" when Rubens Barrichello crashed into him in Melbourne, although the Williams' man says Rosberg "braked early."

The duo came together on lap 24 of the grand prix when Barrichello, in what was described as a "desperate" move by BBC pundit David Coulthard, launched up the inside of Rosberg's Mercedes GP.

However, as the German was turning into the corner at the time, their cars colliding, putting Rosberg out of the grand prix.

"That was a disappointing first weekend of the season," said the German. "It was a tough race until my retirement with the cars behind me pushing hard.

"I saw Rubens in my mirror and he was quite far away so I was surprised that he hit me. I immediately thought that was it and I had to pull over to stop the car.

"It's very sad for the team as they have worked so hard this weekend and throughout the winter."

But while Rosberg says he was 'surprised' by Barrichello, the Brazilian was surprised as well, after all, he says, the Merc driver braked early.

"It was a tough race for us. I was pushed out a little bit at the start, but then I had a good rhythm going and was doing quite a lot of overtaking until the incident with Rosberg," said the Williams' driver.

"I wasn't planning on overtaking him at that point, I was defending from Kobayashi. I think we have one tyre with grip and one with less and so we have different braking points.

"Rosberg braked earlier, and was already in the middle of the corner before I could stop the car."

Barrichello was handed a drive-through for the accident and later retired from the grand prix.


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[John S]

Typical Rueben's,make a mistake and blame the other guy.Personally
I think he got the Mercedes confused and rammed the wrong one

   I second both those thoughts Dare, mind you it's not only an eyesight test that Rubens needs. He has made a pigs ear of the whole thing this weekend, his quali mistake was a basic rookie type faux pas.

They say the older you get the more you revert to childlike behavior, maybe it's approaching the time for Rubens to apply for his bus pass. 

 

[Scott]

Absolutely - good call Dare...maybe he's colour blind and thought Rosberg had a red helmet on?  Both he and Button made bonehead moves. 

Button could have slowed on the straight following his off-track overtake and nobody would have said a word (and it would have been possible to prevent Alonso from passing him as well), but no, he has to pretend he was ahead at the time and then Massa pitted, so it was too late to let him by and golly-gosh, the stewards didn't see at which point Button thought he was past Massa (neither did any of us), and he gets a drivethrough destroying his race.  To top it off, he was supposed to hold up Vettel for a lap and a half and he couldn't even do that for more than a turn.  rant over...

[Williamsfan]

At least Button made up for his mistake though with a solid drive the rest of the race, Rubens just drove like a rookie all weekend what with his inexplicable spin in qualification, a further off today and then his move on Rosberg.  He blamed Nico and the tyres, saying both tyres had different breaking points etc etc.  In his words, it all starts to sound like 'blah blah blah' with his excuses for mistakes.   

[Scott]

No question WF - I was just venting about Button (nobody has mentioned him yet) who I think could have finished 3rd or 4th.  It's not ALWAYS the other guy's fault, and it's been ages since I heard an F1 driver say so.

[John S]

 
 To top it off, he was supposed to hold up Vettel for a lap and a half and he couldn't even do that for more than a turn.  rant over...

I think the stewards also need an eyetest, Vettel also had all 4 wheels over the line when he passed Jens. Buemi used the same trick at the same spot a bit later. Since both gained advantage by running off the track why no investigation?

I thought the rules had been tightened this year to make sure anyone putting all 4 wheels off the track faced penalty. 

 

[Williamsfan]

Absolutely Scott, I don't disagree that Button's move was foolish and he should accept the blame other than shifting it to Massa who has every right to hold his position and actually was driving a decent race at that point.  I just felt the need to release some steam against Rubens as he drove me nuts this weekend!

[Dare]

If there's a way to cut a corner someone will do it.Remember Alonso
at Monaco in 04 or 05 when he was driving right thru one chicane
so MS couldn't pass him