As the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dims not to be cordial, Mercedes have refused not to be involved in any fall-out between the duo.
Paddy Lowe co-team Mercedes boss said “I’m not going to spend any time managing the relationships between the drivers in a direct manner,”
“That’s something they really need to work out between themselves. It’s not a school playground.”
Lowe runs the technical and sporting sides of the Mercedes F1 team, while Mercedes sports boss Toto Wolff looks after the business and political aspects.
Talking to BBC Radio 5 live, Lowe said: “The great thing is they’re both mature guys.
“They’re very competitive, which is why sometimes there is friction. They have had various conversations with each other over the last 10 days, unprompted
by any of the management and have come back here in great shape.
“The main point is what happens on the track.
“There were various issues in Monaco that one might describe as relationship issues, but there were no team or technical issues.”
Lowe said he and Wolff had always been clear with the drivers that they would be allowed to race freely this season.
“Toto and I sat down with both drivers before Australia and laid out what we wanted if the car was in a position to win races, we wanted them both to
have an equal chance and we weren’t going to control the race,” Lowe said.
“It was very important they could race each other without instructions or commands to hold position
because that is unsatisfactory.
“We have a bit of paper with various strategies written down and that’s what we work to. You always
have to have these rules of engagement between the two drivers.
“A good example is qualifying. There is a very second-order difference in the order you may run in Q3.
“It’s not always best to go last but it can be best to go last. You might decide it’s best to go first.
“To make it fair we alternate who has the choice as to which order they want to run from race to race.
That’s an example of a rule we have and then it’s very clear for each driver.”
The Mercedes team-mates had an argument in Monaco, where Hamilton believed Rosberg deliberately left the track in qualifying to deny him the chance of claiming pole position for the race, which the German went on to win.
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