Mercedes boss Paddy Lowe: "This is not a school playground"

Mercedes technical boss Paddy Lowe has said that he is pleased that Lewis Hamilton took the initiative to make peace with team mate Nico Rosberg after Monaco and says that he does not feel that it's the team's job to manage their relationship.

Tensions arose when Hamilton suspected Rosberg of deliberately preventing him from taking pole in the closing moments of qualifying. Rosberg went on to win the race and take the championship lead.

“I’m not going to spend any time managing the relationships between the drivers in a direct manner,” Lowe said in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live this evening. “That’s something they really need to work out between themselves. It’s not a school playground.”

Lowe worked with Hamilton for all of his McLaren career, but this is only his first full season of working with Rosberg.

“The great thing is they’re both mature guys. They’re of course very, very competitive, which is why sometimes there is friction, and they have had various conversations with each other over the last 10 days, unprompted by any of the management and they have come back here in great shape, and that’s how it should be.

“The main point for me is what happens on the track in the end.

“There were various issues over the (Monaco) weekend that one might describe as relationship issues, but as far as I’m concerned there were no team or technical issues and how the track running worked I had no issues with it.

“As far as Toto and I are concerned, that’s the bit we focus on.”

Mercedes look unstoppable again this weekend in Montreal, a circuit which suits the characteristics of the Mercedes, with its powerful engine, excellent traction out of low speed corners and braking stability.

Asked whether he saw any areas in which the opposition were catching Mercedes, Lowe said, "I know we’ve had a fantastic record so far this year but we have to work very hard, we’ve got some great competitors out there who will grab everything we leave behind. We’ve just got to make sure we don’t.

"We take each race at a time. They’re all different circuits with different challenges. This one in particular, very hard on the brakes and difficult to manage the fuel. I think we’ll all find that on Sunday. "