Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Toto Wolff admits he will need to talk to his two drivers to head off any possible tension after Lewis Hamilton appeared to drive Nico Rosberg off the track at the first corner at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday.
Hamilton appeared to run wide while on the inside of the uphill turn one on the opening lap, pushing Mercedes AMG PETRONAS team-mate Rosberg onto and over the outside kerbing that saw the German drop from the lead down into fifth position, and it was obvious Rosberg was unhappy with the manoeuvre.
“The first corner was certainly a tense moment and Nico was clearly not happy,” said Wolff. “It’s never going to happen that a driver is completely happy to see a rival winning.
“But we have three races left and it’s crucial that we don’t allow today’s incident to have further consequences. We will go away, have a few days of cooling off, and then talk.
“I have never been in that situation where everything is comfortable and I can sit back and enjoy the race as a fan, so I’m looking forward to seeing our two drivers fight flat out with nothing to lose.”
