Lewis Hamilton and Rico Rosberg share their thoughts following Mercedes showdown.

Whilst the Silver Arrows pair have been given the all-clear to continue racing, it has been made clear that should there be any repeats of Spa, Barcelona, Spielberg... there will be consequences… which could even include suspension.

While neither driver was willing (or able) to shed light on precisely what was said at this morning's meeting at the team's Brackley HQ, with Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe, they were willing to share their thoughts on the possible consequences.

"For sure, this is a serious matter which needs to be discussed," admitted Rosberg. "We are teammates in the end, and we must avoid contact and collisions and costing the team points in such a way.

"It had to be discussed, and that's what we did," he continued, "very constructively, and we've come to some conclusions, some agreements, and now it's moving forward.

"The message has arrived," he admitted. "They have done a very good job in bringing home the message.

"It's a thing of the past now," he insisted, looking ahead to the British GP weekend, "and now I am fully focussed on what's in front and this weekend."

Asked about the incident in Austria, and the Stewards decision that he was responsible, a verdict he claimed "sucks", Rosberg said: "It's not black and white. I respect the stewards' decision, for sure, I fully respect it because they came to that decision as a group. But that doesn't mean that I have to agree with it, my view can be different. That's it."

Asked if intended apologising to Hamilton or the team, he said: "It's not a question of apologising. We are now moving forward, it's a thing of the past, and that's it. we've had our discussions, we've been through it, and together we've come to a conclusion on how best to move forward. Now we're going racing again.

"The great thing for all of us is that we're free to race," he added, "which is what we all want, we want to battle out there, I want to battle Lewis out there. So that still remains nearly unchanged. So that's the important thing, isn't it?"

Meanwhile, speaking at the official press conference, Hamilton said today's meeting and its conclusion wouldn't change anything.

"My destiny has always been in my hands so it doesn't really change anything," he told reporters, "We are still able to race, which is positive. There are no team orders, which is great for the fans, so I think everyone should be excited."

Asked about the new guidelines which would compromise the way the two drivers compete and relates not only to incidents such as Barcelona and Spielberg where there was contact, but Austin, Suzuka and Montreal where there was controversy, the Briton replied: "Unfortunately everything that has been said is private and confidential.

"We are still able to race," he continued, in all of those races, the stewards deemed me as racing, so I can still race like that."

Asked how he would react to such incidents were he a team boss, the Briton said he would "be in a better position to understand the situation as I know what I would do".

"As I'm a racing driver, I know what I would and wouldn't do on a race track," he continued. "For individuals who don't race, it's difficult to understand decisions we take when racing at 200mph.

"I would want them to race," he insisted, "I wouldn't bring in team orders, because racing is why I would be there. I don't know how many collisions we've had, it's a small amount compared to the numbers of one-twos we've had."

Interestingly, in what was a surprisingly low-key press conference, nobody mentioned the elephant in the trashed room, the comments made, and then retracted by Niki Lauda.

Considering the importance of the whole situation at Mercedes, it seems suspicious, to put it mildly, that not one journalist present wanted to know how Hamilton felt about Lauda's claim and subsequent retraction.

It's almost as if, much like this morning's meeting, a blackout had been imposed, one that includes the media.

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