Shanghai--Nico Rosberg accused Lewis Hamilton of putting himself before the team on Sunday as the fragile truce between the feuding Mercedes rivals unravelled spectacularly in China.
World champion Hamilton won from pole for a record fourth victory at Shanghai but Rosberg ripped into the Briton after the race, accusing Hamilton of deliberately holding him up as Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari closed in.
"He compromised my race," fumed Rosberg, who finished second after demanding over the radio that Hamilton be ordered to speed up. "By driving slower than was necessary at the beginning of stints meant Sebastian was very close to me."
Hamilton rejected Rosberg's claims after dominating from start to finish.
"It's not my job to look after Nico's race," he shrugged. "My job is to control my race. I didn't do anything intentionally to slow any of the cars up. I just focused on myself."
Rosberg angrily fired back: "It's now interesting to hear from you, Lewis, that you were just thinking about yourself."
Niki Lauda, the Mercedes team's non-executive chairman, did not share Rosberg's view that Hamilton had driven selfishly.
"These guys are egocentric bastards," he said. "This is the only way to win -- they're all the same. Lewis was better this weekend.
"Lewis had pole position and controlled the race from the beginning to the end," he added. "There's nothing more to say. Therefore, I think there's no need to quarrel."
The pair, whose rivalry dates back to karting as teenagers, bickered constantly last season. An ugly public spat boiled over when Rosberg drove into Hamilton in Belgium, for which the German was disciplined by Mercedes.
AFP
