Quote Originally Posted by The Black Knight View Post
If someone can explain to me why Nico straightened up the wheel and then move in towards Lewis I'd happily accept this as an accident as well. If they can't, and no one has so far, then I won't.
I really don't see anything conclusive in the video; cars like that just don't handle like road cars when on the limit (and the first turn at Les Combes certainly will qualify). Without the benefit of whatever feel for the road Nico had you can't tell whether he was trying to turn in or just correct for a washout at the front of the car.

All that said, the incident was 100% Nico's fault, even if it might be classified as a "racing incident". Just because it was an incredibly stupid move to make in the first place that created a completely unnecessary risk of an intra-team wipeout. A suicide dive like that might even be a commendably aggressive piece of driving in some situations, like late in the race for the last points-paying position, but against your teammate on the second lap when your cars are two seconds quicker than the field? Stupid and reckless, and any negative outcome is on Nico's head.

I don't take Nico's reported remarks about making a point to imply that he collided deliberately, just that he was making the point that he was prepared to play chicken with his teammate and not back down, even if that meant colliding. That's an awfully fine distinction, though.

Having thought about it, I actually think Hamilton going to the press with this is pretty smart. By fueling the controversy to the point where there was active discussion of getting the stewards involved, he's managed to neutralize any "point" that Nico might have been trying to make. Specifically, Nico now knows that he can't do that, and there's going to be a ton of scrutiny applied by the stewards if he gets into any kind of scrape from now on. From Hamilton's point of view, that's a decent piece of salvage from this mess.