Mercedes to implement team orders?

Toto Wolff may have no choice but to implement team orders

Toto Wolff says that Mercedes could be forced to alter its approach of allowing its drivers to race freely after they collided again at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton dramatically touched on the final lap of Sunday's encounter at the Red Bull Ring, as they went head-to-head for the victory.

Hamilton went on to take the win, with Rosberg dropping to fourth, behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, after losing his front wing.

Rosberg and Hamilton also clashed at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this year, and Wolff is not opposed to changing the rules within the team.

"We let our drivers race and we trust them to do so – but colliding teammates is not what we want and this is something that needs to be stopped," he said.

Wolff went on to comment: "If we need to reconsider our philosophy, and to take some unpopular decisions, then we must be prepared to keep that option open."

Nico Rosberg was penalized given a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for the latest collision, but Wolff refrained from blaming on of his drivers over the other.

"I am not going to try and put blame more on one side than the other; it always takes two to tango and, as we have said before, this should not happen between team-mates," he said.

"We will let the emotions settle before we sit down and discuss our next steps."

Wolff also explained how Rosberg and Hamilton's strategies converged.

"We tried the one stop with Lewis, anticipating that Ferrari would do the same, but converted early to a two-stop for Nico," said Wolff, as he discussed the two plans.

"As the race unfolded, our predictions began to show that Nico would come out on top, so we converted to a two-stop with Lewis as well to give him the best chance of the win.

"Lewis was running our preferred tire, the Soft compound, in his final stint, but Nico did not have any Soft sets left, so took Super Soft to the finish."