The German Grand Prix on Sunday included one of the most aggressive overtaking maneuvers we’ve seen in a long time. In fact it was so aggressive that the stewards deemed it illegal.
The incident occurred around halfway through the race when Nico Rosberg, down in sixth place coming out of the pits, was determined to pass Max Verstappen. Rosberg came up behind Verstappen at Turn 6, and braked so late that he shut the door on the Red Bull driver and effectively forced him off the track.
It was ballsy, to say the least, but Rosberg was surprised to get a penalty for the move. Though the German came in second across the finish line at his home race, the five-second penalty he was handed by the stewards bumped him down to third.
That could end up hurting Rosberg’s chances at the title. Earlier in the season, he lead in the points standings, but has since lost the lead to his teammate Lewis Hamilton, keen to defend his title and add another to his trophy case.
We’ve only just past the halfway point in the season, though, and with just 19 points separating the two, the drivers’ championship is still very much up for grabs. That is, at least, for the Mercedes duo: with 217 and 198 points, respectively, Hamilton and Rosberg are well ahead of challengers Ricciardo (133), Raikkonen (122), Vettel (120) and Verstappen (115).