Rosberg penalised, stays fourth, after Hamilton clash

Nico Rosberg has been penalised by the FIA stewards after they deemed him 'responsible for the collision' with team mate Lewis Hamilton while fighting for the lead on the final lap in Austria.

After examining video and telemetry evidence, and having heard from Rosberg, Hamilton and representatives from Mercedes, the stewards determined that Rosberg had not allowed Hamilton 'racing room'.

The penalty does not alter the classification however - Rosberg was handed a 10-second time penalty, but was 14 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo at the chequered flag, meaning he stays fourth overall.

Rosberg was also given two penalty points on his licence, and reprimanded for completing the race with a damaged car, thereby spreading debris on the track. However, as the stewards noted: "We do note the extenuating circumstances and the fact that the driver of Car 6 (ROS) did slow down significantly and attempted to mitigate the risk to other drivers and cars."

With regard to the collision itself, the statement from the stewards read: "Having taken note of the extensive evidence given by both drivers and the video and telemetry data, it was apparent that Car 44 (HAM) was in front of Car 6 (ROS) – i.e. more than fully alongside – and that the driver of Car 44 could have clearly made the turn (T2) on the track, if not for the resultant collision.

"Car 6 did not allow Car 44 "racing room" and hence the driver of Car 6 was responsible for the collision."

Rosberg and Hamilton had offered differing views of the incident post-race - Rosberg said he was surprised Hamilton had turned into the corner, while Hamilton said he had given his team mate ample room on the inside of the corner.

With the standings unaffected by the stewards' ruling, Rosberg still leads the championshipon 153 points, 11 ahead of Hamilton.