Mercedes resists team orders for Hamilton/Rosberg after collision

Twice in the past five grands prix Hamilton and Rosberg have been involved in accidents - wiping each other out on lap one in Spain, followed by a final-lap collision in Austria last Sunday.

GARY ANDERSON: Mercedes built its own collision course

Following meetings with both drivers at its team base at Brackley on Thursday, Mercedes has decided they can continue to fight but made clear future incidents will not be tolerated.

A Mercedes statement read: "Our drivers were informed that they remain free to race for the world championship.

"We believe this is the essence of Formula 1, including between team-mates. As passionate racers, we want to see them racing, and so do the fans of Formula 1.

"However, this freedom comes with a duty for our drivers to respect the values of the team.

"In the past five races, there have been three incidents which have cost us over 50 points in the constructors' championship.

"We have therefore strengthened our rules of engagement to include much greater deterrents to contact between our cars

"With these in place, we will trust our drivers to manage the situation between them on track. Their destiny is in their own hands.

"The drivers were also reminded that we may issue instructions during the race to protect against a potential loss of constructors' points, such as we did at this year's Monaco GP when Nico was instructed to let Lewis pass.

"If the drivers do not honour the revised rules of engagement, we may impose team orders as a solution of last resort."

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff was seen thumping a table in anger after the Austria clash, in which Rosberg lost his front wing trying to hold off Hamilton's successful bid to take the lead, and later threatened team orders could now be imposed.

Autosport understands that after a cooling-off period of three days this week, Wolff met with both drivers individually before the collective meeting in Brackley to lay down the law.

Following their collision in Belgium in 2014, when Rosberg deliberately crashed into Hamilton on lap two, "suitable disciplinary measures" were taken against the German, which was understood to be a heavy financial penalty.

It appears Mercedes is now ready to throw the book at Hamilton and Rosberg should there be any reoccurrence of this season's incidents.

AUTOSPORT SAYS...

For the good of F1, Mercedes has made the right call in opting not to impose team orders.

In Austria, even Wolff remarked it would make him "puke" if they had to be applied.

No one wants to see races stage managed, particularly between title contenders. That would likely make everyone puke.

You can only assume the "much greater deterrents" Mercedes hints at mean it would now clamp down hard and is under no circumstances prepared to tolerate further indiscretions.

There are many options open to Mercedes in this regard for punishments.

The first would be a financial penalty, but given the wealth of both men any such sanction would need to be big enough to be truly punitive to make a difference.

Beyond that, denying them time in the car would certainly hit home, perhaps by dropping could drop them for a practice session.

Although reserve Pascal Wehrlein is at Manor this season, junior driver Esteban Ocon - who has been loaned to Renault as reserve - could always be drafted in for such a run.

The ultimate punishment would naturally be a race suspension, although of course there is the problem of a replacement.

Would Mercedes be able to recall Wehrlein from Manor, and leave that team searching for its own back-up? If not, would Mercedes risk pitching Ocon into a grand prix weekend?

Ocon has at least driven an F1 car this season - in practice and post-race testing at Barcelona.

The 19-year-old Frenchman gets another outing with Renault in Silverstone practice, and he is in Mercedes' current car for both days of next week's in-season test, so would have experience.

As draconian as a race ban seems, if Mercedes wants maximum impact on Hamilton and Rosberg it is not so far-fetched as it may appear.