24/08/2014
NEWS STORY
As the fall-out from today's second lap incident continues, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits the team may need to rethink its policy on team orders.
To the delight of fans, broadcaster and the media, the German outfit, whose car is clearly the class of the field, has made a point of allowing its two drivers to race one another despite fears that it could all end in tears.
Whilst fans have thrilled to the numerous wheel-to-wheel battles between the two drivers, a number of incidents - all played up to the full by the media - have seen the relationship between the two deteriorate.
With an eye on how the in-team dispute between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost almost derailed McLaren's hopes in the late 80s and early 90s, many feared history might repeat itself at Brackley.
Today, following a number of signs that the temperature was clearly rising, things finally hit rock bottom, the two colliding on the second lap, subsequently forcing Hamilton to retire from the race, and a post race meeting which led to the Briton claiming that Rosberg admitted to deliberately hitting his car.
Acknowledging that the in-fighting has not only allowed Daniel Ricciardo to take his third win of the season but means the Australian could yet steal the title from under Mercedes nose - what with double points on offer in Abu Dhabi - Wolff has admitted that it may now be time to take action.
Asked whether his team might now have to start invoking team orders, the Austrian told reporters: "Unfortunately, yes.
"It would be too early to elaborate in detail because the devil lies in the detail," he continued. "We are all fans and we owe it to ourselves and everybody out there to let them race. Today that philosophy has ended in Mercedes losing many valuable points and we don't want to end up in Abu Dhabi, with a season where we lost the championship, be it constructors' or drivers', because we were too much race fans."
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