Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg both failed to finish the 2016 Pirelli Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after a collision on the 1st lap. Stewards have ruled no further action will be taken against either driver after it was deemed a racing incident. Nico Rosberg leads the Drivers’ Championship by 39 points while Lewis Hamilton is in P3. MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS (P1) lead Ferrari (P2) by 48 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

So, what happened then boys?

Lewis Hamilton:
“I had a decent start from pole but got slipstreamed on the way to the first corner and lost the lead. Coming out of turn three, I was catching Nico really quickly and went for the gap on the right – I had part of my car alongside but then had to take to the grass. The gap was there and, if you’re a racing driver, you go for that gap. We saw what happened after that.

“I’m hurt and disappointed for the team most of all because we lost 43 points today. We’re all here working together towards the same result and the team give me the opportunity to race with the work they do. When I came to a stop in the gravel trap, all I could think about was how gutted I was for the team – that’s where I feel the pain. But we will move on together and come back stronger in Monaco.”

Nico Rosberg:
“I had a great start and I was ecstatic after passing Lewis around the outside of turn one. At that point, it was my race to win. I came out of turn three and realised I was down on power with the wrong mode selected due to the engine mode switch being in the incorrect position. Lewis was closing in, so I decided to make a clear move to the right hand side as soon as possible, to close the door and show him that wasn’t an option. I was very surprised that Lewis went for the inside anyway. The next thing I knew, we were in the gravel trap. I’m gutted, not just for myself but for the whole team, it’s the worst feeling as a driver.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“After all the hard work we’ve put in over the past two weeks it’s deeply disappointing to come away with no points, but in my opinion this was a racing incident, with the drivers racing for position, and I don’t want to start blaming one or the other. Both Lewis and Nico are upset and we talked with them, looking at the pictures and the data, to determine exactly what happened. By letting the drivers race as we do, this kind of eventuality can happen but we won’t change our approach – we owe it to Formula One and the fans to let them race.

“But today, it was the work of the whole team that finished in the gravel trap, and this isn’t what we want to see happen – both of the boys know how much hard work goes into each race weekend and that they have the responsibility to bring that home. We have matured as a team over the past years, so we will be able to move on from this and, hopefully, fight back in a positive way in Monaco.

“I want to add a word for Max, too; on a bad day for us, he sprinkled a bit of magic on the sport, so big congratulations to him on what I’m sure is only the first of his Grand Prix wins.”

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical):
First of all, congratulations to Max Verstappen. It’s a tremendous story for Formula One. It was a very short race for us today and it was a huge disappointment for the team, especially to lose both cars in such dramatic fashion. It’s hard to take, especially given the amount of hard work prior to this weekend to solve a number of reliability risks and to bring the level of performance to the car that was witnessed in qualifying.

“It was a dominant front-row lockout and we were looking forward to a great race. We pride ourselves on allowing both our drivers to race, and race to the limit and that involves some tough manoeuvres from both Lewis and Nico and they sometimes won’t work out as we saw today. The stewards have ruled for no further action against either of our drivers. Most importantly we head to Monaco stronger and in better shape to continue in our quest for the 2016 Championships.”

Lewis Hamilton today claimed his 52nd career pole position. Nico Rosberg completed a Mercedes front row lock-out with a time of 1:22:280. Hamilton’s pole time of 1:22.000 was 2.681 seconds faster than the 2015 pole. Both drivers completed one run in Q1 (soft) and Q2 (soft) and two runs in Q3 (soft).

Lewis Hamilton:
“That felt great today to finally put the lap together, I’m very very happy. You always need to put that performance in, it reassures your belief, and Nico had been so fast this weekend, sometimes two tenths quicker, sometimes more. I could see on my data where I was losing, so I had to try and figure it out on track, and it is so satisfying to attack that obstacle and get through it.

“I am really grateful to the team for working hard overnight to put the car in the right place for me to fight – and now it’s three poles from three for me when I’ve been able to do the laps in qualifying. I haven’t had a proper race with Nico yet this year so I am hoping that will start tomorrow. It’s very hard to overtake here, so strategy is important, as is looking after the tyres: the forces round this circuit means it just eats the tyres up, so you need to get that balance just right and see it through to the finish.”

Nico Rosberg:
“Lewis did the better job today but tomorrow is when it really counts. There is a big opportunity for me at the beginning: I had some good starts this year and Lewis hasn’t led into the first corner this season so far. Maybe in the race there will be an opportunity. Tyre usage will also play a factor and the right strategy will be crucial. So I’m expecting a pretty interesting race and I’m looking forward to the battle. We need to keep eye on Red Bull as well, as they are surprisingly stronger than Ferrari here.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“After the problems we had in the last two qualifying sessions, it was great to get both cars to the end of the session today – and to see the drivers put them on the front row. It was a magic lap from Lewis. He’s struggled with the set-up this weekend but worked with the engineering team to get the car where he wanted it, and delivered at the right moment. I’m very pleased for him.

“As for Nico, he’s second on the grid but it looked like he had something in his pocket in Q2, so his tyres might be a little fresher for the race start – and we will see if that makes a difference tomorrow afternoon. I’m expecting a tough race, a big battle between our boys and a challenge from the guys behind us on the grid. We must make sure we do our job and give the drivers reliable equipment, then see how the race unfolds.”

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical):
“First of all, well done to all our colleagues at Brixworth whose hard work and expertise over the past weeks has got us through the weekend reliably so far. Our aerodynamic upgrade package is also working well, which is a good confirmation that our development rate remains high and competitive.

“But we have had some difficult qualifying sessions recently, so it is a weight off our shoulders to have enjoyed a trouble-free session today in Barcelona – and it was a privilege to watch the battle between our two drivers performing at their very best. Congratulations to Lewis on his third pole of the season; he put in a tremendous performance during all three sessions and, at one point, was on course for a time in the 1:21 bracket. Well done to Nico, as well; he delivered some great laps to take our first all-Mercedes front row since Bahrain. Our focus now turns to tomorrow’s race. We will need good starts, given the difficulty of overtaking at this circuit, and we expect a challenging race in terms of strategy with plenty of opportunities to take advantage. We want to make sure our long-run performance is on the same level as we showed over a single lap today.”

Nico Rosberg took his 18th career victory today – his first at the Sochi Autodrom and fourth of the 2016 season. Lewis Hamilton completed a second Mercedes 1-2 finish of the 2016 season in P2 with a battling performance from P10 on the grid. Rosberg set the fastest lap of the race – beating the previous best of 1:40.071 (Vettel, 2015) by just under a second (0.977s).

Hamilton produced a superbly controlled drive to manage a water pressure problem in the closing stages of the race and retain second position from Räikkönen. Rosberg (100) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 43 points from Hamilton (57) in P2. Mercedes (157) leads Ferrari (76) by 81 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

Nico Rosberg
“This weekend really went really perfectly for me. Already in qualifying I had found a perfect balance and that continued throughout the race, which was fantastic. Lewis drove really well to come back up to second so quickly, so well done to him too. The only down side to the weekend was to see that reliability is becoming a bit of a concern, as Lewis obviously had a problem yesterday and both cars had issues during the race today.”

Lewis Hamilton
“Firstly, I would like to thank the guys who came together to get the new parts over here from the factory last night – and then to the mechanics who worked all through the night to get everything prepared for me to go out there and race today. The guys on my side of the garage are having a really hard time of it at the moment – but I have every faith and confidence in them. We’ve swapped things round in the garage a bit this season but that is absolutely not the reason we’ve been having issues. It hasn’t been the case for the past three years and I have no reason to believe it would be now. Without their hard work I wouldn’t even have got to this point, so a big thank you to them once again.

“The first corner was pretty hectic. I don’t know what happened – but I saw something happening in the corner of my eye and just thought ‘I’m not getting caught again!’ I managed to get out of the way and avoid it – but if I’d turned in I would have collected them. It was pure instinct and I’m glad I was able to come out without any contact this time. From there I had good pace and I felt like I could challenge for the win – but then there was the water pressure problem which ended that chance.

“It was tough to hang on at the end but I handled it as best I could. I had to really nurse the car home and I’m just relieved to have made it to the flag after how this weekend has been. I’ve got a long way to go yet this season with not many healthy engine parts left, so we need to do a better job on reliability.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“That race was anything but plain sailing today – it was a pretty stressful experience to get both cars home, and there was a point when we thought neither of them might make it to the flag. First of all, congratulations to Nico, he did a perfect job all weekend and controlled the race from the front once again. He didn’t put a foot wrong and, when we faced an issue on the MGU-K during the middle part of the race, he was able to do all the necessary steps to keep it under control and bring it home.

“As for Lewis, he drove brilliantly. Some really good, aggressive passing manoeuvres and clever racing brought him to P2 – and he was just getting his head down to charge when we saw a water leak and he was losing water pressure. The only thing to do was ask him to back off to bring the car home and fortunately that meant the situation stabilised but cost him the chance of racing Nico. No doubt he will be thinking about what could have been today – but it was a fantastic recovery after such a tough moment in qualifying yesterday.

“A one-two finish is always something special and to be savoured, especially with the performance advantage we enjoyed this weekend. We are pushing hard this year and finding the limits of our car – but we need to get on top of our issues so the drivers can battle it out on track themselves. That’s what we all want to see and what we will be working hard to achieve in the coming days before Barcelona.”

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)
“Coming into the race, the team did a fantastic job to get Lewis’ car back into shape for the race in the right specification and preserving his tenth place on the grid under parc ferme restrictions. It was quite a dramatic start, from which our drivers fortunately emerged unscathed.

“The result, in fact, worked in their favour, with Nico comfortable at the front and Lewis moving up to fifth. After the re-start, Lewis made some fantastic overtaking moves on Massa and Räikkönen, then once again on Bottas following the first round of stops. This proved critical to his result. After Nico’s stop, his car developed an MGU-K problem which we were able to manage to some extent but remained a concern to the end of the race. Then, shortly afterwards, Lewis’ water pressure started to progressively drop. We encouraged him to ease off, which helped to a degree. But, in reality, this appeared to be a terminal situation and we were sitting for about 20 laps with our fingers crossed hoping the car would make it to the flag. By some miracle it did just that, which came as a huge relief after the difficulties of the weekend. Overall, it’s great to get another one-two finish. But it’s clear that we have more work to do in the days leading up to the next race to understand the series of problems experienced over the past two weekends.”