"Sometimes as a driver you like to throw in a couple of excuses": Nico Rosberg's cheeky dig at Lewis Hamilton blaming the brakes on Ferrari

Nico Rosberg took a cheeky dig at former Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton after the driver insinuated that the new Ferrari upgrade was the reason behind his spin during Sprint qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix. Rosberg claimed that racing drivers like to "throw in a couple of excuses" when they make a mistake out on track, in a reference to the incident.

Hamilton had a poor outing during the Sprint Qualifying as the Brit was knocked out after he spun out at the bus stop chicane on his final run in SQ1. After the race weekend concluded, Hamilton explained that he had trouble getting used to the new Ferrari upgrade, which was fitted on his SF 25 for the first time at Spa.

But speaking to Sky Sports UK during the race weekend, the Italian team's ambassador, Marc Gene, claimed that the new rear-suspension upgrade had nothing to do with Hamilton's incident in sprint qualifying.

Nico Rosberg, who appeared on Sky's coverage of the Belgian GP as a pundit, picked up on this and questioned the validity of Hamilton's claim.

"It's a mystery then for us. But it can also be, sometimes as a driver you like to throw in a couple of excuses there," said Rosberg. "So it can also be a little bit of an excuse, you know, 'Charles had the problem, now I had the problem'. That can also happen," he added.

Lewis Hamilton ended up starting the Sprint in P16 after his incident and finished 15th. The 7x world champion was also knocked out in Q1 during Qualifying for the main race, as he exceeded track limits at turn 4, leading to the deletion of his final time in the session.

But Hamilton made a solid comeback during the main race after having started from the pitlane. He made his way to P7 on Sunday, overtaking multiple cars on the field before undercutting others in the pits, when he decided to switch the slick tires before any other driver.

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Ferrari boss claims "mood is good" after Lewis Hamilton's recovery drive at the Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has claimed that "the mood is good" in the Ferrari camp after Lewis Hamilton's impressive recovery drive at the Belgian GP. The Frenchman also lauded the whole team's response after the driver's mistake in Qualifying.

Speaking to the media after the Belgian GP, Vasseur reflected on the positives from the weekend, especially on Hamilton's side of the garage.

"The mood is good. For sure it's not the result we were expecting with Lewis in qualifying, but it's part of the life of a racing team that we reacted collectively very well," said Vasseur. [via RacingNews365] "Lewis did a great job. He was quite aggressive at the beginning in the extreme conditions," he added.

Charles Leclerc was the happier of the Ferrari drivers though, as the Monegasque managed to secure his fifth podium of the season at Spa. The 27-year-old narrowly fended off an early-race challenge from Max Verstappen, who started and finished the race just behind in P4.

Edited by Luke Koshi