Nico Rosberg’s Austria 2016 move resurfaces amid Max Verstappen controversy. Nico Rosberg, who criticized Verstappen’s move in Spain, was involved in a strikingly similar clash .

Nico vs Max
Following the incident in Barcelona between Max Verstappen and George Russell, one of the harshest critics of the Dutch world champion was former driver – and world champion himself – Nico Rosberg. The ex-Mercedes star was commenting for German TV channel Sky Deutschland and even went as far as to suggest that Max Verstappen should have been disqualified from the race due to the intentional nature of his maneuver.

However, some fans might remember that during his own career, the 2016 world champion was no stranger to questionable behavior at the limits of the regulations. There is one particular incident involving Rosberg during his title-winning season that shares some interesting similarities with Max Verstappen’s move in the recent Spanish GP.

The clash with Lewis Hamilton in Austria
The reference is to the Austrian GP, where Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided on the final lap at the Remus corner. Lewis Hamilton was in second place and attempted an outside overtake to take the race lead. Rosberg, while defending his position, drastically widened his trajectory, leaving a huge gap on the inside and approaching the outside edge of the track before beginning to turn in.

It was a maneuver clearly and intentionally aimed at pushing Lewis Hamilton off the track. At the time, Lewis Hamilton was not only Nico Rosberg’s teammate but also his main title rival. The Briton, nearly forced into the asphalt run-off area, found himself blocked by Nico Rosberg’s car when he turned, leading to an inevitable collision. As in the recent case, the driver who caused the incident – Rosberg – came off worse. Hamilton’s car survived the impact and went on to win the race, while the German broke his front wing and lost two more positions on that final lap, crossing the line in fourth.

The stewards’ version
After the race, the stewards reviewed the incident and handed Nico Rosberg – ironically – the same penalty Max Verstappen received in Spain: 10 seconds. However, the future world champion had a safe margin over fifth-placed Daniel Ricciardo and did not lose any more positions in the final standings. The FIA’s official document detailing Nico Rosberg’s penalty is still available online, and in addition to the time penalty, Rosberg received two (not three, as in Verstappen’s case) penalty points.

“After reviewing the extensive evidence provided by both drivers and the video and telemetry data, it was clear that car 44 (HAM) was ahead of car 6 (ROS) – more than just alongside – and that the driver of car 44 would have been able to make the turn (T2) on the track if not for the resulting collision. Car 6 did not leave racing room for car 44 and therefore the driver of car 6 is responsible for the collision,” wrote the stewards.