Mercedes holding crunch meeting after Hamilton and Rosberg's clash

The collision between Rosberg and Hamilton on the second lap of last week's race at Spa-Francorchamps has ramped up tensions at Mercedes, with the drivers unhappy at each other and team bosses furious about what happened.

SECRET MECHANIC: Mercedes' fun is over

Although there were brief discussions about the situation in Belgium immediately after the race, Mercedes was determined to let emotions calm down before summoning Rosberg and Hamilton to the Brackley factory for further talks.

The aim of Friday's meeting between the drivers and key Mercedes men Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe is to try to agree on a course of action that will help keep a lid on the situation and not derail the squad's title ambitions.

Mercedes' options appear to be limited, however, with only two realistic possibilities.

It could elect to keep the drivers free to race, in the hope there is no repeat clash, or it could impose team orders to limit what they do.

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Wolff admitted on Sunday night that all ideas were being considered, but made it clear that no decision would be made until after speaking to both drivers.

When asked if imposing team orders from now on was likely, he said: "That's to be decided. If we really want to do that, it would be disappointing for all of us, but we need to get on top of the situation and we haven't figured out what that means.

"Lots of things we've discussed already, but within 60 minutes you don't come up with a clever strategy that's good enough."

FANS WANT RACING FREEDOM

Mercedes took to social media on Thursday to find out what F1's fans thought was the best course of action: strict team orders or free racing.

Feedback came from more than two million people across Facebook and Twitter, and over 90 per cent believed that giving the drivers continued freedom to race was the best way forward.

Opinions over how to deal with matters should another crash happen were more divided, however, as there was no consensus about the right type of punishment for any trouble.

While ideas such as race bans, fines - and even jokingly forcing Rosberg to wear Hamilton's Mercedes cap for a weekend - were suggested, each sanction is not without problems that could further hurt the team's championship ambitions.

Ultimately, Mercedes must decide whether or not it trusts its drivers to be able to race each other cleanly from now on, having made clear its displeasure at what happened in Belgium.

If it does, then it has to hope its drivers will not abuse that faith.

However, if it does not believe the situation is manageable from now on, then it may have no choice other than to impose clear team instructions for how the title battle will progress in the upcoming races.