SPIELBERG, Austria -- Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says his team will consider implementing team orders from the British Grand Prix onwards after Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided for the second time this season in Austria.
The Mercedes drivers made contact in Turn 2 as Hamilton attempted to pass Rosberg for the lead on the final lap of the race. Rosberg defended his position by running deep into the corner, leaving Hamilton with minimal space to go around the outside. The impact left Rosberg with a broken front wing while Hamilton continued without major damage to win the race.
The Mercedes drivers also collided on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix and Wolff said the repeat means team orders should be considered.
"In Barcelona I was much easier with it because we had 30 races without any collision, it was clear it was eventually going to happen, it wiped out both cars. From my naïve thinking I said to myself 'Okay, that's it, they've learned their lesson, they've seen the consequences and it's not going to happen any more'. But here we go, it happens again.
"So the only consequence is to look at all the options available on the table, and one option is to freeze the order of a certain stage in the race. It's unpopular, makes me puke myself because I like to see them race, but if the racing is not possible without contact, then that's the consequence."
The incident was subject to a stewards' investigation, with both drivers protesting their innocence, but Wolff said he had his own opinion on the matter.
"I don't want to attribute any blame because every time you watch the video and you look at onboards there is new information," he said. "You can't clearly say who is more to blame than the other. I have a personal opinion, and I'm not going to express it here. As a matter of fact that needs to be avoided.
"We will make a decision irrespective of what they say. It's the core race team that's got to make a decision and it could go either direction. The outcome need to be that we avoid contact between the two cars, so everything needs to be on the table. There's no going to be any what we'd call in German 'holy cow', we're going to look at everything."
But with Rosberg struggling with a brake by wire issue and on faster degrading tyres, Wolff said the incident was not 100 percent clear cut.
"No, I don't think it's that black and white. Nico was with a car that was handicapped, trying to brake later, and not on the line that was probably the normal line, and Lewis came from the outside, and this is where the first contact was made. So what I'm saying is that it takes two to make contact.
"I'll put my head in a bucket of cold water - that's the next thing I'm doing to do after this! The race is on next week so we need to discuss internally, with all guys involved, with how we want to manage a situation going forward when the two are close to one another."