The head of Mercedes has warned that he may be forced to sack one of his drivers unless Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg can patch up their differences.
As practice started for the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes Motorsport, said that one of them will have to go if their on-track scrap cannot be stopped.
“We would have to take decisions and take the consequences of having a different line-up,” Wolff told the BBC. “If we are not able to manage the two of them following the Mercedes-Benz spirit then we need to admit that.”
The Hamilton-Rosberg bout has been the main topic of conversation up and down the Monza paddock. Their collision at the Belgian Grand Prix almost a fortnight ago forced Rosberg into a humbling apology and set the scene for what could be a crucial showdown on the fastest track of the season.
Rosberg was punished with a fine by Mercedes and Hamilton was warned to keep his criticisms in-house, only narrowly missing out on disciplinary action.
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Despite the outward calm in Monza, tensions continue to run high and will not have been calmed by Wolff’s assertion that jobs are on the line. It seems far-fetched, given that his drivers are first and second in the championship and that Rosberg signed a contract extension only a month ago.
Hamilton has postponed talks on a contract extension but repeated yesterday that he wants to stay with the team.
However, Wolff appeared to want to lay down the law before hostilities resume this weekend.
“When you are managing a team it is very important to keep it balanced,” Wolff added. “I would very much like the penalties we have been implementing to stay within the team because it is just not fair on the driver to discuss that in public. We have made it very clear this is an unacceptable scenario for us, for both of them. We don’t want this to happen ever again.”