Mercedes warns of 'consequences' for Rosberg after Hamiltin clash By Jonathan Noble24 Aug 2014 inShare Mercedes' Toto Wolff believes that a slap on the wrists may not be enough for Nico Rosberg after his Belgian Grand Prix collision with Lewis Hamilton, warning of larger consequences. Rosberg clashed with Formula 1 title rival Hamilton in a fight for the lead at Spa-Francorchamps in a move that Mercedes chiefs say was unacceptable. And although Mercedes wants to wait for the dust to settle on the weekend before holding a crisis meeting, Wolff has assured Hamilton that a simple telling off is unlikely. "Today we've seen the limits of the slap on the wrist," he said. "Maybe the slap on the wrist is not enough. "If Lewis has said that it's going to be a slap on the wrist, and that there's going to be no consequence, then he's not aware of what consequences we can implement." When asked what the team could actually do to rectify the situation, Wolff said: "A lot. But I'm not going to comment on this right now." NEW APPROACH MAY BE NEEDED With the Rosberg and Hamilton incident leaving the door open for Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo to take another victory, Mercedes knows that it cannot afford to keep throwing away valuable points. No decision has yet been made about whether or not the clash means that team orders may now be needed, but Wolff has said it is likely that a change of protocol could happen. "The solution is that we're going to sit down and hear the boys' opinion, I think we owe it to them," he said. "We aren't going to point the finger at Nico and say 'You messed it all up' because they're fighting very hard for the championship and it could have been the other way around. "What we have to do is see it as a matter of principle, what has happened, and take the consequences and make sure it doesn't happen again. "We had the conversation before, at the beginning of the season. It was an absolute no-go to crash into each other. "We've had mega-exciting races where they were fighting fair and square with great excitement for all of us. And at that stage they were on top of the situation and we were on top of the situation. "And now it's come to a point, in the second half of the season, where it's getting very tight, and probably we need to tackle that with more intensity to make sure we stay within the boundaries we've set at the beginning of the season." NO SELF DESTRUCTION JUST YET Wolff hinted it was possible that the policy of giving the drivers freedom to race may have to stop. "It would be too early to elaborate in detail because the devil lies in the detail. We're all fans and we owe it to ourselves and everybody out there to let them race," he said. "Today that philosophy has ended in Mercedes losing many valuable points and we don't want to end up in Abu Dhabi, with a season where we lost the championship, be it constructors' or drivers', because we're too much race fans. "We've probably not hit the self-destruct button yet but there is a lot at stake, and if you don't manage this properly now it could end up at that point. "It's one thing enjoying great races and letting them fight with each other, but if you look like a fool at the end of the season then you haven't won anything."
I'm a Hamilton fan, but I think he's made a serious misjudgment in coming out and telling the media what he has. What happens in the dressing room should stay there, for the good of the team, surely? It's all part of the dual-nature of F1, team, but also individual. I think at the moment they're being so selfish Mercedes will have to get rid of whoever doesn't win the championship.
Thats probably true, I guess it all depends on Mercedes reaction. Maybe he should have waited until after a statement from Mercedes at least!
Well... I just don't get it at all. If you want to prove a point, do it by winning, not by costing your team a potential 1-2. I guess it's just red mist, but it makes no sense to me at all.
I think Rosberg is trying to retroactively justify the red mist that descended from him making an error on the start line.
So when the Spanish fans boooed Hamilton for outclassing alonso and thrn dressed up in monkey suits I assume you were ok with it?
Nico's not great in close situations, as we have seen across the season. I also guess that 'red mist' is about the size of it; I don't think it was purposefully malicious on Nico's part.
I think Rosberg, after a slow start compared to Hamilton was thinking, here we go again. I don't think this season, apart from reliability issues, that once Hamilton has got in front of Rosberg in a race and they both finish that Rosberg has never overtaken Hamilton to regain the lead and win?
I suppose Lewis could have released Nicos telemetry instead of saying what he has...ooopps. *just joking.
Jennie Gow ‏@JennieGow 3m Just spoken to Merc and they confirm the quotes from Lewis on what Nico said are correct - should be interesting going forward #f1
There's not a lot the team can do really. They're not going to suspend him and risk losing the title. What's done is done. Just gotta hope is doesn't escalate.
Rosberg signed a new deal only last month, that's looking like quite the power play now. EDIT: For comparison, Hamilton's up at the end of next season.
Ok, I don't expect anyone to take me seriously on this but, nevertheless, has Nico calculated that Lewis has a bad reputation and, thinking that his own rep. is unimpeachable, presumed that he, Nico, can exploit this while going unsuspected himself? I should add that I don't think, in the heat of the moment, that Nico really wanted to take Lewis out today. Maybe it's all a bit "whatever"! None of the top drivers displays a great deal of self-awareness but anyway, Nico will probably win the WDC but with little goodwill; hell, even his compatriots have failed to warm to him. A sign of the times for the 'stateless' élite, perhaps?
After watching the replay about 5 times. The move could be considered very very stupid and reckless. But nothing short of what Lewis could try and has tried infact in the past. I expected better from Nico. No need. And it does not help in any way.
I have the same opinion on this as I do with Rosberg's crash in Monaco, namely that, unlike certain drivers have done in the past, he never started out today with any intentions of deliberately cheating. What he has done is shown that. upon making an error, he is adept at switching a bad situation to his advantage, especially when it comes to mind-games. Nico will do whatever it takes to get that WDC, whoever gets in his way.
