“That as a driver frustrated me like hell”– Nico Rosberg bashes below par performance by Bono in Dutch GP

“That as a driver frustrated me like hell”– Nico Rosberg bashes Bono’s below-par performance with Lewis Hamilton in the Dutch Grand Prix.

Mercedes had a poor strategy in the Dutch Grand Prix, which helped Red Bull seal another victory this season and help Max Verstappen regain his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Valtteri Bottas was perplexed with the team orders over the fastest lap, and later after the post-race, he subtly criticized Mercedes’ strategy and emphasised there was scope for improvements.

”I just think we stopped too early in that second part, and it had just been a point where we [went] through traffic, I lost a good second from them, and I needed time to close that gap up before we did a stop.”

“And then I came out behind traffic, so I couldn’t actually implement, and I don’t know how they didn’t see that.”

Nico Rosberg blames Bono.

Rosberg, who has worked with Mercedes for many years, was displeased with how the management frustrated him and especially pointed out Pete Bonnington’s faults.

“What I also found really bad today was the comments from Bono to Lewis,” he told Sky F1, “so garbled and not clear and should he push now or not or what is he doing?

“That as a driver frustrated me like hell because I am like ‘Come on, we are out there, we don’t know what is going on. Give us clear guidance – push now or make it a little easy.”

“That was below par from Bono today,” he added; Hamilton told Mercedes that they played their gamble of pitting him early was a gamble taken too soon, but Rosberg claims that it wouldn’t have changed the results anyway.

“No, it wouldn’t,” he said. “It was Max’s race, but it could have been a closer fight. The way they did it, there was just no chance. It was a bit strange to see.

“Also, Lewis, he was really fast as well. It was not really true what he was saying, that Max was on a different planet. They have had a couple of moments. Not the usual high level of strategy that I have seen this year, so something has gone on.

“I think there is going to be some big discussions. Lewis even gave a low blow saying ‘I don’t know what they were thinking’.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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