Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have both taken the side of Nico Rosberg after the German’s controversial run-in with Lewis Hamilton at Spa.

“It’s impossible that Nico from the cockpit could have been so precise with his front wing to have cut a tyre of another car,” the two-time Drivers’ Championship winner told Sky Sports. “You need to be in surgery at the hospital with that sort of precision. The bad part of the incident was for Hamilton, but it could have been the other way around – maybe Hamilton’s tyre resisted and Nico had to change the front wing and his race was over.”

Four-time title winner Vettel agreed with Alonso. “I think it was just a normal racing incident and the discussion of intention should not arise,” Vettel told Sport Bild. “No one intentionally risks losing his wing and no one makes themselves the target of (the accusation of) unfair driving.”

Nico Hulkenberg, another German compatriot of Rosberg, also agreed with the views of Alonso and Vettel. “Nico did nothing wrong,” the Force India driver is quoted as saying. “He tried to overtake because he thought he was faster.”