text: The morning after the row the night before, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg barely exchanged a word in the first-class cabin of their Emirates flight to Dubai, en route to the next race in Bahrain. If the two Mercedes drivers are not quite on non-speaking terms, they are communicating only when they have to. While they kept quiet among themselves, both had a further say in public about the dispute that broke out after the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton was particularly strident saying that the difference is that he is a ‘racer’ and Rosberg is not. Lewis Hamilton (right) and Nico Rosberg have both had their say on Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix . Winner Hamilton (centre) waves to the crowd as Rosberg (left) and Sebastian Vettel shake hands . Briefly, the bones of the argument are these. Rosberg, who was beaten into second place by Hamilton, said his team-mate had been ‘selfish’ by slowing down while leading the race. It caused him (Rosberg) to be bunched up closer to the attacking Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, whom he feared could overhaul him. Vettel did not manage to do so and finished third. The verbal spat played out at the press conference as the two protagonists sat side by side. Rosberg fumed. Hamilton smiled, seemingly happy to have riled his title rival. But it can now be revealed what happened after they finished their subsequent round of interviews in the Shanghai paddock on Sunday night. Both went through their usual engineering debriefs before being brought in one by one to meet senior Mercedes management including Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe, team principal and technical director respectively. Hamilton went in first and was in conversation with his bosses for half an hour. Rosberg for 20 minutes, now in a room illuminated by lights as darkness crept in outside. Then, more than two hours after the race had finished, Wolff was happy the team had got their story straight enough to speak to journalists. It was now 90 minutes after his scheduled press conference. Rosberg (left) was clearly angry with Hamilton in Sunday's press conference and hit out at his team-mate . The British driver (right) denied he had done anything wrong following Rosberg's accusations . Hamilton (right) backed his corner when it was claimed that he had scuppered his team-mate's race . He declared the talks ‘positive’ and cleared both his drivers of wrongdoing. Hamilton then spoke to the press under an embargo that mean his words have not appeared until now. ‘Nico didn’t try,’ he said with passion, often repeating his words for emphasis. ‘Nico didn’t try. ‘They said maybe he was just comfortable in second place and I said, “Well that’s the difference between us. I want to win always.” ‘And I would have done everything to get past today. Or at least pushed for three laps. He wasn’t quick enough. ‘This is motor racing, man. Racing. Don’t take away the fun of the racing. It’s racing. I wouldn’t have sat back two seconds to make it to the end of the stint. ‘I don’t even know what Nico’s point is. Where we are is that I just won the race today. I did the best job I could possibly have done and the team got a one-two.’ Hamilton’s explanation for slowing down is that he was running his own race and conserving his tyres as best suited him. No neutral I have spoken to within Formula One disputes the world champion’s rationale. Hamilton (centre) celebrates his win with the Mercedes team, but Rosberg (right) appears less pleased . Hamilton crosses the line to claim his second win of the season and his fourth in China . ‘Ultimately this is Formula One,’ added Hamilton. ‘I want the guy to be up my a*** if he’s got the pace to be up my a***, and putting pressure on me. And if I can’t defend it, I lose, like in Bahrain last year. I wasn’t quick enough and I did everything I could to stay ahead. And that was the greatest race ever.’ The greatest race of this young century, certainly. Both drivers are now spending a few days in Dubai before travelling to Bahrain for this year’s race on Sunday. Before leaving, and without knowing what Hamilton had said, Rosberg offered his considered version of events through his customary post-race video, on which he answered fans’ questions. One asked if he was ‘crying’ – by which the questioner meant moaning or being a poor loser. Rosberg said: ‘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.’ Hamilton in front of team-mate Rosberg during Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai . Rosberg (right) speaks with Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff in Shanghai during the weekend . But why did he not push to pass Hamilton? ‘It might not be so easy to understand from the outside,’ said the German. ‘But the reason is, I did try to attack Lewis 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. I would have completely destroyed my tyres 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 to overtake him, would have come at the end of the race, so that’s what I was building up to. ‘The worst part of the weekend was losing out to Lewis in qualifying. That compromised me most. And it was by just four-hundredths. That’s all down to me to be those five-hundredths quicker next time.’
target: A dispute broke out between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on Sunday .
  Hamilton finished ahead of his team-mate to win the Chinese Grand Prix .
  The British driver said that he is a 'racer' and Rosberg is not .
  Both Mercedes drivers are en route to Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix .