A week after their relationship appeared to have hit rock bottom, Lewis Hamilton says he and Nico Rosberg are still friends.

"We've been friends a long time & as friends we have our ups & downs," the Briton tweeted, "Today we spoke & we're cool, still friends #noproblem", he added, along with a pic of the two in happier times, both on unicycles.

While battle resumes next week in Canada, many will breathe a sigh of relief, especially their Mercedes bosses, at this apparent cessation of hostilities.

Though the two have been friends since their early teens when they were racing one another in karts, this year, and the competitiveness of the Mercedes, has put their relationship under increasing strain as they fight for the title in equal equipment.

However, things took a turn for the worse last week, firstly when Hamilton claimed to be hungrier than the German, who, he claimed had enjoyed a privileged upbringing which left him less motivated, and then the controversial incident during qualifying.

As the weekend wore on, Hamilton's frustration and anger became ever more obvious, with talk of the pair now enjoying a relationship similar to Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and all the nonsense that involved.

Speaking moments after the race, Hamilton, when asked about his relationship with Rosberg, snapped: "We're not friends, we're colleagues".

Whether today's message has been stage managed by the team or whether it is a genuine move towards reconciliation we do not know however, all should become clear in the coming weeks as the championship battle moves to Canada and back to Europe.

For now, let's hope that the two have resolved their differences... and without the need for a cheesy photo-call.

Chris Balfe

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by blackdog, 03/06/2014 10:07

"Once again, as we saw only too clearly with his behaviour at McLaren, Lewis is acting like a girl. He can't handle being beaten. He was supposed to destroy Button. Didn't happen did it! Over three years Jenson scored more points and it is points that win titles, not fastest laps or pole positions.
Lewis has still not learned to keep his big mouth shut, to THINK before he speaks and just get on with it. He continues to say and do stupid things, thereby making himself look like the idiot he is, in front of the whole world.
Yes he is very fast. Probably a tad faster than Nico, but he is no sportsman. He is not capable of acting like a man and smiling and shaking the winner's hand as a true sportsman would and should. If he does not win, he sulks like a very small spolied child.
Is this the brand image Mercedes are hoping to project to the world? It certainly is not, and I wrote to Niki Lauda at the time, warning him that this could happen and probably would.
Lewis needs to remember that he is extremely fortunate, having the best job in the world, and all the money that goes with it when millions of others do not know if they will eat today, or where they will sleep. Some, in Syria, or South Sudan, are not even sure if they will still be alive tomorrow.
Grow up Lewis and as Derek says, Man up! Where is your self respect? Take a leaf out of Jenson's book. Jenson is a professional who knows how to behave correctly, is fast and a credit to his team and F1.
Nico is also a credit to his team and to our sport and I really hope he goes on the win the championship.
"

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2. Posted by F1 Yank, 02/06/2014 19:36

"These guys need to just drop it and let the qualifying and racing speak for itself. It really makes me wonder about HAM considering the banter between his race strategist and himself. He should not even be questioning or thinking about the race strategy during the race. The engineers I am sure have several race scenarios and options you can take depending on the evolution of the race, which are probably discussed in detail during a pre-race meeting. This ultimately slows you down as well as indicates you don't trust your crew or their decisions. If this is the case he shouldn't be with Mercedes."

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3. Posted by SK, 02/06/2014 8:18

"Fernando and Kimi are just as ruthlessly talented if not more than Hamilton, but can u you imagine such girly behaviour coming from them? That's what differs boys from men. Grow up, dude. Get rid of those silly diamond rings and you will think better. "

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4. Posted by ape, 31/05/2014 17:10

"off course Nico tried all or nothing in that last lap.. he had nothing to lose and braked much too late and off course Lewis was frustrated .. these guys are human but for the sofa racers and the media they must be supermen.
Good they are on speaking terms but they wiil clash again , like Pirono- Villeneuve . Lauda- Prost .Prost- Senna , Mansell -Prost , Mansell-Piquet , Reutemann-Jones, Vettel-Webber , Alonso-Hamillton . No big deal."

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5. Posted by ScottC, 31/05/2014 11:03

"Over the years since he first arrived I've tried so hard to "like" (as much as you can like someone who you'll never meet and only see on tv or under a helmet passing by at 150mph) Lewis and I really though that this year he had gotten over his Senna obsession and began to be himself.

Then when things don't go the way he thinks they should, he reverts to the spoilt brat persona that I can't stand. The guy is obviously talented I'm not disputing that but he needs to be more gracious in defeat. And even if he thinks Nico's mistake was a deliberate attempt to foil his pole lap he should remain above all this petty hand-bags at dawn crap, man-up and just get on with it."

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6. Posted by Tommy Tipper, 31/05/2014 9:02

"Probably just twigged on to the fact that Nico is a lot brighter and more charming than him. For all his speed he's still a chavvy knob"

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7. Posted by LifelessDead, 30/05/2014 20:11

"No! We need more cheesy photo-calls!
Maybe Mercedes can strike a deal with Red-Bull, their photographer seems to have some spare time so far this year."

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8. Posted by BjornAke, 30/05/2014 19:30

"I think Hamilton needs to acknowledge that friendships are not an "onoff"-thing. And if he wants to be respected by fans, audiences and his own team, he will have to start thinking about his behavior both in the car and in between track action. The way he is treating his team are not ok."

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Hamilton: We're cool, we're still friends

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