06/07/2016
NEWS STORY
Niki Lauda has retracted comments made about Lewis Hamilton on a TV programme.
On the 'Sport & Talk' show for Servus TV which was recorded last Friday and broadcast on Monday night, the Mercedes non-executive chairman claimed that following his qualifying crash in Baku, Hamilton trashed a hospitality room in anger.
The Austrian also said that the Briton's claim that his relationship with the German was now "really, really good," was a lie.
However, in a brief press release issued by Mercedes ahead of the British Grand Prix weekend, Lauda has retracted the claims.
"Following his appearance on a television discussion show on Servus TV recorded prior to last weekend's Austrian GP, Niki Lauda would like to set the record straight and state the following," read the statement.
"Lewis Hamilton did not in any way damage a hotel room or his private driver room at the circuit during the race weekend in Baku; and
"Lewis Hamilton did not lie about his relationship with team-mate Nico Rosberg.
"Niki regrets any misunderstanding caused by comments that have been blown wildly out of proportion compared with the casual context in which they were made."
Quite how comments such as; "he told me I couldn't come in because he was going to destroy everything. This is how it was. I was there, he smashed everything", and, ""Lewis lied, about that, simple as that," can be blown out of proportion is a matter for debate.
The big question being, what are we to believe, the original comments or the retraction?