Lauda to cool Mercedes feud
MERCEDES boss Niki Lauda has revealed he will act as peacemaker in an attempt to clear the air between feuding team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Rosberg won the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday to move top of the Drivers’ World Championship, much to the annoyance of second placed Hamilton.
The British driver confronted Rosberg following Saturday’s qualifying session after his final lap, and push for pole position, was ended when stewards waved yellow flags to signal the German had locked up and run onto an escape road, forcing Hamilton to slow down.
Stewards later ruled there had been no foul play by Rosberg, but the pair failed to shake hands on the podium on Sunday or celebrate their one-two finish leading Lauda to acknowledge the need to intervene.
“They’re not children. They’re grown up professionals who have their difficulties, but I will help them to overcome them in a nice way and they will understand,” said Lauda, Mercedes’ non-executive chairman.
“The tension is building up. All I have to do is make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.
“There are certain limits, and these limits I can reintroduce because I speak their language, the drivers’ language and they do understand me, they like me, and there is no issue.”
The Formula One season continues on 8 June with the Canadian Grand Prix.