03/11/2015
NEWS STORY
Despite wrapping up both titles with three races remaining, all is not well at Mercedes.
The German outfit should be on the crest of a wave having secured second successive team and driver titles however, it would appear that all is not well.
Though the team has done its best to play down the media's attempts to build on the obvious rift between its drivers in Austin, a number of events over the weekend suggest that there might be trouble brewing in paradise.
In Austin we witnessed the first corner incident involving the two Silver Arrows drivers and the subsequent cap tossing silliness in the ante room before heading out on to the podium.
Initially there was talk of plans to diffuse the situation with a get together in Mexico, then came denials that there was a situation that needed diffusing.
Nico Rosberg, a broken man on the Austin podium, had his tail up for most of the weekend in Mexico, taking a convincing win and looking a different person altogether as he soaked up the adulation.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton however, who had laughed off the cap throwing incident in Austin and denied forcing his teammate wide, insisted for much of the Mexico weekend that he's a fair man and prefers to do his talking on the track.
However, over the course of the Mexico weekend there were a number of obvious digs at his teammate, not least the unwarranted mention, post-race yesterday, of "gusts of wind", a very obvious jibe at Rosberg who had blamed a gust of wind for his late mistake that cost him the lead in Texas.
Indeed, talking to the British media, Hamilton took things a little further. Still fuming at the team's strategy during the Mexican race, at one point arguing with his engineer Pete Bonnington over the radio, the Briton suggested that the team effectively gifted Rosberg the win in order to keep him happy.
Asked, considering his comments during the race, whether he felt the team was trying to help Rosberg, Hamilton said: "I know the team has felt the need to be extra warm.
"I know what I mean but I'm not going to say what I mean," he added. "This weekend he did a good job at the end of the day. You should ask Toto and Niki. You should put those questions to them about how they feel about it. What they have to do behind the scenes to keep him happy."
Meanwhile, team boss Wolff was not available for comment, the Austrian seemingly miffed because some journalists had sought the opinion of (non-executive chairman) Niki Lauda. Indeed, some sections of the media are claiming that a rift, similar to that between its drivers, is now developing between the two Austrians.
Ho hum.