Mercedes will have a hard time handling the row between the pair which
exploded over the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. Niki Lauda, the Mercedes F1
chairman, admitted that tensions were rising and that he would sit the
drivers down before the next race in Canada to try to defuse the issue.
The three-time champion said: “I will go there in Montreal or before, and meet
them or Lewis in this case and say what is the problem.
“They were arguing about it [that Rosberg brought out yellow flags
deliberately]. But the stewards cleared him. He apologised, which is
something I have to respect.
“There was a race incident in Barcelona, where Lewis did something, and he
said sorry. They are both grown-up people and I’m sure Lewis can overcome
this after one night’s sleep.”
Asked if Mercedes would continue to allow the pair to compete on such terms,
Lauda said: “You can’t stop it. One thing is clear that Lewis, from my point
of view, has a one or two-tenths advantage on Nico. He can get the laps in
qualifying. And Nico is working hard – my type – with the mechanics and
engineers.
“So we have one natural talent, very emotional. And we have another guy who is
doing the same job in another way.”
The Austrian added: “You have to be a b—— if you want to win in Formula
One anyway, no question.”
The race, which was the fifth one-two finish in succession for the Mercedes
team, gave Rosberg a four-point lead in the Formula One drivers’
championship.
Reportedly Hamilton had to tell Rosberg to stop playing football outside his
apartment recently – they live close by – but the pair have much bigger
problems to worry about.
In the post-race press conference, the body language, the monosyllabic
answers, and the facial expressions told how badly the pair have fallen out
over the weekend.
Asked if he would sit down with Rosberg to thrash out a solution to their
problems, Hamilton simply replied: “I don’t have an answer for you there.”
The German, for his part, said: “It’s fine. We’ve had discussions and the
benefit we have is that we’ve known each other for so long. We always sit
down and discuss it and then move on and that’s what we’re doing this
weekend also.”
Hamilton had been frustrated over the team radio that his team had not pitted
him earlier after a crash for Sauber’s Adrian Sutil.
The 2008 world champion even said that this would not have happened in his
time at McLaren, but Hamilton confirmed later that he believed he had the
full support of the team.
Hamilton said: “I did the best job I could today with what I had, and I feel
like I did myself proud. I pushed, and gave him pressure. To be able to
follow that closely on a track like this showed that I had the pace.
“Hopefully I think I showed my true pace, and I’ll work harder next year when
I come here.”