Toto Wolff has warned Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to avoid causing controversy in the remaining races this season.
The two Mercedes drivers came together at Turn 1 at the start of the United States Grand Prix, with slight contact sending Rosberg wide as Hamilton took the lead from the pole-sitter. Wolff says he wants his two drivers to race each other hard but felt the need to discuss the situation in the days leading up to this weekend's race in Mexico.
“It’s always tricky when it’s so close between team-mates or close between racing cars in general," Wolff said. "This is why we are here, we want to see them race and not pre-agree before the race even started who goes first through the corner and who goes second. It would make the whole thing much less exciting.
“For us as a team it’s always a challenge. We continue to support them in racing hard and optimising the result but of course for the team it is very important to have no controversy in the team and obviously if the cars collide that’s causing controversy. If it’s getting a tiny bit too hard it’s causing controversy as well.
"There’s no need to discuss it again, we’ve had conversations regularly, we’ve had discussions after Austin and they are both absolutely aware of the situation.”
And Wolff says the drivers need to take responsibility for their own actions out on track, with the pair set to start side-by-side in today's race in Mexico City.
“I’ve looked at the situation at Turn 1 [in Austin] thirty times over the last week in order to make up my mind. My conclusion is that both Nico and Lewis race each other hard and it was under tricky circumstances in a difficult corner and they were side-by-side, maybe with Nico even having a tiny little advantage on the outside. It was hard racing. Do I want to see cars touching? No, I don’t want to see that.
“How many pages of rules do we need to come up with to really cover every single situation. Yes we’ve had the conversation around Turn 1 and it doesn’t need to be dragged out in the media how that’s happening because I am not the headteacher and they are the best two drivers out there. At a certain stage the responsibility needs to be in their hands.
"Sometimes it’s harder, sometimes it’s trickier for us but the fundamental rule remains the same that we don’t need any controversy in the team and we don’t want any tension in the team because there are 1200 people who are the best in the world in their particular business and everybody needs to understand that and they do.”
REPORT: Rosberg beats Hamilton to Mexican GP pole
AS IT HAPPENED: Mexican Grand Prix - Qualifying
Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
