Sport : F1

HAMILTON WANTS CLARITY ON OVERTAKING

10th May 2012, 07:59pm

Hamilton and Rosberg pictured before the Bahrain GP

Hamilton and Rosberg pictured before the Bahrain GP

Lewis Hamilton is hoping clarity will prevail this weekend in the wake of Nico Rosberg's contentious Bahrain manoeuvres.

Rosberg was hauled before the stewards after the Bahrain Grand Prix 18 days ago after twice spearing his way across the Sakhir circuit to defend his line.

In one incident Hamilton used the swathe of run-off area to pass Rosberg, whilst at the same point Ferrari's Fernando Alonso found himself pushed wide but unable to find a way by the German.

While Alonso reacted furiously to the move during and after the race, the stewards deemed Rosberg not guilty on both counts, claiming the Mercedes driver legitimately made one defensive move.

Hamilton feels there is a need for further discussion on what unfolded in Bahrain, which will certainly come in Friday's drivers' briefing after the two practice sessions ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver said: "Fortunately neither of us got in trouble, neither of us were hurt, and hopefully we will try and rectify the rules to make them clearer so that we won't be in that position again.

"Lots of people have commented on it, but the only two people who know exactly what happened are myself and Nico.

"The footage you have of what occurred is from the front, and it is very difficult to see clearly what happened, whether I was alongside him or not.

"But the stewards made the right decision, and hopefully this weekend we will clarify the rules. Would it have happened if there had been grass or a wall? Probably not. If there had, it would have been an interesting situation."

Red Bull's Mark Webber has even suggested Hamilton should have been the one penalised for "exceeding track limits" in passing Rosberg, as stipulated in the rules.

Hamilton, however, laughed that off as he said: "Mark's probably the most outspoken driver in Formula One, so that is the least I would expect him to say."

Given Hamilton and Rosberg now live in the same apartment block in Monaco, the former has confirmed speaking to the latter since the race, albeit not about the grand prix itself.

For his part, Rosberg believes what transpired in Bahrain was "harsh but fair".

"What happened was nothing to do with who it was, at which point it was (on the track) or for what position," said Rosberg.

"I wanted to close the door because it was the best position to be in to defend my line into the next corner.

"But it's important it's now discussed. Two drivers have raised their concerns about it, so we need to discuss it.

"If they felt they were in danger, which was not my intention, then we need to discuss and to implement rules so it doesn't arise again.

"It is driver safety and we need to do the best we can so that we can keep pushing that forward.

"Of course if there had been the barriers at Monaco it would have been a different story, but then again the guys behind would have backed off a lot earlier.

"In that situation, which I'd probably do again, it was harsh but within the rules, and I didn't judge I was putting my competitors in danger."

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