Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg paid £360,000 each towards Mercedes’ damage costs after their infamous crash at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. The lap-one shunt paved the way for Max Verstappen’s first-ever F1 race win, on his Red Bull debut no less.
Hamilton secured pole position for the race, which was the fifth round of the 2016 campaign. Rosberg swept the first four race weekends, so the P1 grid slot was a welcome boost for the reigning world champion at the time. However, Mercedes’ worst nightmare played out on the opening lap.
The Brit lost out to his team-mate at the start as Rosberg made a move around the outside at Turn One. As they arrived at Turn Four, Hamilton attempted to re-pass the German, but his team-mate squeezed him onto the grass.
From there, Hamilton lost control and was a mere passenger as his Mercedes machine skidded towards the Turn Four corner, where it collected Rosberg’s W07, sending both cars tumbling into the gravel trap.
“I even had a contract that I had to sign, which said that if ever we crash as team-mates, we split the bill 50/50, us drivers,” Rosberg explained while on pundit duties for Sky Sports F1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “That was very expensive! We shared the Barcelona bill. It was £360,000, I remember that. That was painful.”
Within the Mercedes camp, there were differing views on who was to blame. Niki Lauda pointed the finger at Hamilton, but team principal Toto Wolff refused to lay the blame at the feet of either driver.
“We let our drivers race each other, and that is what you get sometimes,” he reluctantly accepted. “Actually, I have to say that our opinion is that none of the two is to blame directly and entirely.”
The Silver Arrows’ boss also revealed that Hamilton apologised to his German colleague after the incident. “Yes, it is true that Lewis apologised to Nico – but that is our culture within the team,” he continued. “Both, of course, were pretty unhappy about the situation – that the team was let down. And I think that both know that they are not faultless in that situation.
“But that is already water under the bridge, and the only interesting thing is of how we get out of that situation. We have really had a great spirit within the team at the last couple of races – of course also up and downs. Time is a great healer, and the team has enough backbone to move on from difficult circumstances.”
As the season progressed, the crash proved costly for Hamilton, who missed out on the title by five points despite finishing the season with four consecutive Grand Prix wins.