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Monaco: F1 stewards clear Rosberg

MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Formula 1 stewards upheld Nico Rosberg's 2014 Monaco GP pole position on Saturday (May 24) after investigating a qualifying incident  that denied Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton the chance to beat him.

Stewards said after hearing from the team and examining video footage, that they would be taking no further action against Rosberg because they could find no evidence of any offence being committed.

Rosberg had locked up on the descent to Mirabeau and skidded down the escape road in the final seconds of qualifying, bringing out yellow warning flags that forced championship leader Hamilton to slow just as he was on his last quick lap.

MERCEDES RIVALRY

Rosberg said he was sorry for Hamilton's lost opportunity and agreed that it was not a good way for the session to end, but was adamant that he did nothing out of order.

Hamilton, however, told the BBC when asked if he had to sit down and sort it out (with Rosberg): "I don't know if Senna and Prost sat down and talked it out. I quite like the way Senna dealt with it, so I'm going to take a page out of his book."

It was not clear what Hamilton was referring to, but Senna deliberately drove Prost off the circuit in an infamous incident at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix when their relationship had deteriorated beyond repair.

SCHUMI STRIPPED OF POLE

The controversial incident came eight years after seven-time champion Michael Schumacher was stripped of pole position after race stewards decided that he had stopped deliberately after running wide at the Rascasse corner in his Ferrari.

Schumacher retired, but came back to race again for Mercedes whose non-executive chairman Lauda dismissed all suspicions surrounding Rosberg's actions.

Asked if he felt the incident appeared to be deliberate, Lauda said: "No, not at all.

"If you look at it the way I look at it, he tried to go quicker, braked too late, the right front wheel locked, tried to go into the corner and not to crash he had to go left.

"So this is very simple to explain....These things can happen. They happen to a lot of other people but there's nothing wrong about it."

ROSBERG CLEARED

He added that the two Mercedes drivers may need to talk things over after 48 hours during which tensions between them have mounted following a series of reports about their rivalry and differences.

"I think there might be some more discussions later today or tomorrow morning, I agree this thing is building up over there, but from my point of view here is nothing wrong on Nico's side.

"Lewis was now four or five times quicker than Nico and now Nico's quicker so what is wrong about that."

Rosberg said he was 'surprised' that the stewards had launched an investigation. He said: "They'll see in the data it is all very similar to the lap before and I just locked up the front tyre."

The stewards supported Rosberg and after investigating said they found no evidence of any offence.

Behind the Mercedes-filled front brow come the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel.

2014 Monaco Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco:

Qualifying
Third practice
Second practice
First practice

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