Mercedes chief dismisses row between Hamilton and Rosberg
Tuesday 21 April 2015 13:11, UK
Niki Lauda has downplayed the fight between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, stating that all drivers are 'egocentric b*******'.
Tensions flared once again at the Silver Arrows after the Chinese Grand Prix when Rosberg accused his team-mate of compromising his race by backing him into third-placed Sebastian Vettel.
But Mercedes non-executive chairman Lauda says Hamilton showed a winning mentality and that all that mattered was a one-two finish after their shock defeat in Malaysia.
"We were first and second and I don't care if there is a quarrel, as long as Vettel was third," said Lauda.
"One thing is clear from my point of view, Lewis had pole position and controlled the race from the beginning to the end, therefore there is no need for a quarrel."
Asked whether Hamilton had the right to be selfish, Lauda replied: "Sure, he will drive selfish. These guys...I call them egocentric b*******, and this is the only way to win a championship. It's the oldest thing.
"There is no friendship out there. When you race you have to fight, that's it."
With the Bahrain GP following this weekend, Lauda expects the fighting talk to quickly die down and is predicting Rosberg will hit back.
"Nico will calm himself down,” Lauda added. "For sure, when you are being beaten by your team-mate it hurts. When I was being beaten by (Alain) Prost all the time I was not happy.
"On the other hand Nico is a guy who comes back quickly, so thank God there is only one week to the next race (in Bahrain) so all this talk will stop quickly when they start driving again on Friday.
"Of course, Lewis bites, he has the talent to bite, but Nico is as nasty as he is if he sees the chance. Don't worry."
Indeed, tensions may already be easing after a post-race debrief which Rosberg says contained "a lot of constructive criticism and now for everyone it is a thing of the past".
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff added that the discussions had been “positive” and that the team understood both drivers’ points of view.
Bahrain was the scene of arguably the best duel between the Mercedes team-mates in 2014 as they repeatedly went wheel-to-wheel under the floodlights in the desert.
