Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes teammates have sided with the seven time world champion over his controversial last-corner pass on Fernando Alonso.
After deliberating for four hours in Monaco, the stewards on Sunday evening decided to drop the German out of the points, even though team boss Ross Brawn insists the safety car period had officially ended.
Nico Rosberg thought Schumacher’s pass had been a good one.
"From my perspective it was a really cool manoeuvre," he told German television RTL, "but apparently it’s not allowed."
Interestingly, Rosberg revealed that he was also told by the Mercedes pitwall that overtaking between the safety car line and the chequered flag was allowed.
And Mercedes reserve driver Nick Heidfeld told Sky television: "The move was very clean.
"The rules are different this year. In the past you could only overtake from the start/finish line, now it is from the safety car line. Alonso was a little bit asleep," added the German.