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No tension following Hungary - Hamilton

ESPN Staff
August 21, 2014 « Chilton voluntarily relinquished Marussia seat | Alonso: Ferrari has not been too conservative »
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As far as Lewis Hamilton is concerned, there is no tension or negativity within the Mercedes team following the team orders controversy at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was asked to let team-mate Nico Rosberg past during the race at the Hungaroring - a call Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda admitted was a mistake. Four weeks later, the team has arrived at Spa-Francorchamps for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix and Hamilton said the events in Hungary are no longer an issue for him.

"It's very clear for me," he said. "I'm not sure it's the same the other side, but I think if there is any unclear air, it will be cleared before the weekend starts, for sure.

"We haven't all sat down together as yet. I'm not particularly sure it needs to happen. I've come here quite clear on what is to be done and needs to be done, and I feel quite comfortable with how the team has reacted and the decision they have made.

"We don't always individually make the right decision, and the team won't always make the right decision. But the best thing is we learn from our experiences and move forward. There's no tension, there's no negativity. We all move forwards together because we want to win the championship together as a team."

Hamilton sees no reason why the team should not be able to be completely fair with the drivers going forwards.

"It's easy to be fair to us. They've said they can give us equality, but of course there will be situations where we're on different strategies where they will play things differently. After the race, depending on how it finishes, you will have a different opinion as to how that strategy worked out.

"Sometimes it works out best, sometimes it doesn't, depending on where you put yourself or if you have problems. They have a tough job, but they're fully equipped to be able to handle that."

Hamilton said his main concern following Hungary was with the reliability of the car, but that team bosses Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe had helped put his mind at rest over the August break.

"There are no clear rules that have been set. The only discussion I had was a day or two after the race, there were some things on my mind, the things that had happened with the car. I really wanted to understand how they happened, what exactly went wrong in those situations and how we're going to rectify them to make sure they don't happen again, to either myself or Nico. I asked whether there was anything I could do to help to make sure it doesn't happen again, to avoid anything in the future.

"The good thing is I have a good relationship with Toto and Paddy so I can call them and speak to them. I don't have to shy away or feel I can't ask them any questions. The thing is they are very open, so if they have the answers then they tell you, if they don't then they go and find out. So shortly I'll have an email giving me a full description of what is happening to certain things to improve on. I went into the break after that with the satisfaction, and being really comfortable, that things are cool moving forwards."

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