The German responded: “You say that I was crying. OK, I respect your opinion, and I’ll keep it in mind and I’ll try to show respect when it’s due going forward.
“And why didn’t I attack Lewis? I understand why you’re asking that, and it might not be so easy to understand from outside, that’s clear. But the reason is, I did try to attack him in the first stint, and it just didn’t work. All I did was destroy my tyres.
“So in the second stint there was no point to do that again, because this time there was Vettel right behind and it would’ve really risked my second place if I would have tried that, because I would have completely destroyed my tyres, again, and Vettel could have had a really good shot at overtaking me. My only chance of winning the race anyway, or to fight Lewis, or try and overtake him, would have come at the end of the race, so that’s what I was building up to.”
Tense: Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton’s relations are back in the deep freeze
Rosberg conceded that the race in Shanghai was really lost in qualifying, when he missed out to Hamilton by 0.04s. The 29-year-old is now third in the drivers’ championship, four points behind Vettel and 17 points behind Hamilton.
“It was definitely intense after the race, but we had a very good sit down, a good discussion,” he added. “There was a lot of constructive criticism, and now for everybody it’s a thing of the past and we’re moving on to Bahrain.
“The worst part of the weekend was losing out to Lewis in qualifying, that compromised me most. And it was just four hundredths. That’s all down to me to be those five hundredths quicker next time.”
The two meet again in practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix this Friday. Rosberg needs to regain his composure if he is to have any chance of beating Hamilton, the reigning champion.