07/07/2016
NEWS STORY
Whilst not having gone down the dreaded route of introducing team orders, Mercedes has warned its warring drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, that any repeat of the kind of incident witnessed last weekend in Austria will not be tolerated.
Indeed, talking to reporters at Silverstone as the British Grand Prix weekend got underway in unseasonably good weather, he warned that both drivers are essentially on their final warning.
"They've had a warning, and this is the final warning," he said. "It's a scenario none of us want to be in.
"They are wired in a certain way, and that's exactly why they drive for Mercedes," he continued. "But there have been three accidents in five races, and that situation needs containment.
"It is clear for both drivers that we go through a tough time when we lose points when the cars collide. And that was acknowledged.
"If you have a yellow card, will it change your way of tackling it or not? Because you know what happens with a second yellow.
"In a couple of years we might look back and say Rosberg/Hamilton was one of the best battles," he acknowledged. "I am aware of that, and I don't want to over-manage it.
"We want them to be race drivers, they are the stars of the show. We don't want to belittle them in public, which is why I am reluctant to share in public the possible sanctions for them. We don't want to have them go around like puppies.
"But equally let us not have three shunts in five races. Let's get that ratio in a place that is acceptable for the team; three in five is not a good one.
"If it was mission impossible, that would mean we didn't see any clean racing out there. But there is clean racing out there.
"The great racing is hard racing, trying to pass and outsmart the competitor without contact. I believe, especially considering the skill set of those two, that clean racing is possible and achievable."
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