“I will try and do the homework and listen to what Lewis is doing, watching his data and all of that, trying to learn a few bits and pieces that I can then take on for my auto so I was not far off this morning in terms of balance”.
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“This isn’t great for Nico, this sets him back”, Lowe said.
In a briefing Wolff suggested dropping Hamilton or Rosberg would be akin to a star player in a football team being suspended.
Rosberg was protecting a worsening brake problem in the closing stages as Hamilton sought to take the lead and Wolff has admitted that, were the situation to be repeated, Mercedes would ask their drivers not to race each other.
The German’s aggressive defence of his lead in Austria led to contact between his own vehicle and that of Hamilton in the closing stages, resulting in Rosberg slipping to fourth and being handed a 10-second penalty as the Briton claimed victory.
The decision by Mercedes not to implore team orders will come as a welcome relief to Hamilton, who trails Rosberg by 11 points in his quest for a third successive championship, and indeed a record crowd of almost 140,000 spectators expected at the Briton’s home track on Sunday.
The teammates crashed on the final lap in a dramatic end to the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend.
Mercedes added that team orders – which define the order in which the cars finish a race – could be imposed “as a solution of last resort” if the drivers failed to abide by their new guidelines. “The drivers were also reminded that we may issue instructions during the race to protect against a potential loss of constructors’ points”.
Hamilton, who is bidding for a third consecutive victory in front of his home fans, completed a practice double at Silverstone on Friday.
Just 24 hours after the pair had been instructed to obey a revised “code of engagement” following three collisions in five races, the 31-year-old Briton clocked a best lap in one minute and 31.654 seconds.
Hamilton and Rosberg also tangled on the first lap at the Canadian GP this season.
“I felt good today, I was definitely feeling strong, so I am generally really happy with where we are and hopefully we are heading towards”, Hamilton said.
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“Absolutely”, he said. “I’m always going to go for the gap”.
