Hamilton urges Mercedes not to impose team orders

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff expressed his fury after the Austrian Grand Prix at the way that Hamilton and Rosberg had come together again, just four races on from their Spanish Grand Prix wipeout.

Wolff said that management meetings would be called over the next few days to decide what action will be taken to prevent a repeat, as he suggested stopping the pair racing was a distinct possibility.

Such an approach is something that Hamilton has said he does not want, as he urged his bosses to understand that things can never be perfect when teammates are battling so hard for a world championship.

“I want to race,” said Hamilton. “I grew up wanting to race. I wanted to get to F1, race the best and be the best, by out-driving another individual.

“They showed a replay of Michael [Schumacher] and [Rubens] Barrichello many years ago [the team orders controversy from Austria 2002] and I was disappointed as a fan back then.

“You never want to see team orders happening. The great thing is Toto and Niki [Lauda] have been great and allow us to race, and that is what racing is about.

“It is not always going to be blue skies and perfect, but that is motor racing. Every engineer and mechanic has been through Formula Ford and Formula Renault and all the different categories. The have seen the good and the bad and know these things can happen.

“We are driving at 200-plus mph. You expect us to drive around and never, never, never have a problem? I doubt it.

“I hope it doesn't change and I hope we can continue to race. That is my honest opinion from a love of this sport.”

Wolff annoyance

Hamilton is well aware how annoyed Wolff was after what happened on the last lap in Austria, but has stood by his claim that he never intended to cause a collision.

“It is not something I go out to get involved in,” he said. “I don't go out to get caught in collisions.

“As you could see, I drove as wide as possible, within the white lines, so I left a lot of space. Three cars could have come on the inside of me there. As a team boss and team, the team want to finish 1-2. That is our goal and my goal - although I want to be at the front of the 1-2.

“But certain circumstances have led us to where we are today. We have a lot of races ahead and we will continue to race. I am fighting for the world championship, so we will keep fighting.

“Hopefully through these experiences there will hopefully be no more and hopefully a lot less than what we have had so far this year. Hopefully they are a blip in the mist and we will continue racing forward.”