 Following their collision , Hamilton and Rosberg were summoned to the stewards after the race but neither received a penalty , as the stewards rated their crash as a racing incident , with no driver in particular to blame . It emerged that Rosberg had chosen the wrong engine mode for the start , being down on power which led to Hamilton going for a passing manoeuvre . However , Rosberg remained convinced that he had done nothing wrong , saying : " I made it very clear I wasn 't going to leave any space on the inside and I was very surprised he went for the gap " . While Hamilton apologised to the team after the incident , he refused to accept blame for it . Opinions about the incident varied : While Mercedes 's executive chairman <unk> <unk> blamed Hamilton for the crash , former F1 driver Anthony Davidson said on Sky Sports F1 that Rosberg 's move was " very aggressive " . Three @-@ time world champion Jackie Stewart said after the race that Mercedes should fine Hamilton for the crash : " Hamilton is to blame . Rosberg was allowed to protect himself . You don ’ t go for it on the first lap . " Mercedes 's head of motorsport <unk> <unk> stressed after the race that the team would continue to let their drivers race against each other freely , a decision praised by former world champion Alain <unk> . While Rosberg said after the race that he <unk> having a talk with Hamilton about the situation , Mercedes later decided that they did " not need clear @-@ the @-@ air talks " . However , it later emerged that the pair did have a conversation about the incident before the next race in Monaco , which , according to Hamilton , was marked by " pure respect " . It was Mercedes 's first double retirement since the 2011 Australian Grand Prix , and the first time they failed to score a point since the 2012 United States Grand Prix , ending a 62 @-@ race long streak , the third longest in Formula One history . 
