Colliding Mercedes drivers free to race on

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will remain free to race each other for the Formula One world championship despite their costly last lap collision in Austria, the team said yesterday.
 The so-called “team orders”, with drivers told not to pass after a certain point of the race, could still be imposed as a last resort if they failed to respect the strengthened ‘Rules of Engagement’.
Rosberg leads Hamilton by 11 points after nine of 21 races of the season.
 “Our drivers were informed that they remain free to race for the world championship,” Mercedes said in a statement at the British Grand Prix. “We believe this is the essence of Formula One, including between teammates. As passionate racers, we want to see them racing, and so do the fans of Formula One.”
 Triple world champion Hamilton won at the Red Bull Ring last weekend, with Rosberg finishing fourth in a damaged car. The title rivals had been nose-to-tail going into the final lap, colliding when Hamilton went round the outside of the German at turn two.
 Mercedes said the continued freedom to race put the onus on drivers “to respect the values of the team” which had lost more than 50 points in the constructors’ championship as a result of three such incidents in five races. The revised ‘Rules of Engagement’ would include “greater deterrents to contact between our cars”, the team said.
 A spokesman said the details would remain private. Media speculation has focused on the possibility of heavy fines, for drivers paid many millions, or even suspension.
 “With these in place, we will trust our drivers to manage the situation between them on track.
Their destiny is in their own hands,” said the statement, adding that the team still had full belief in the pairing. Between them, they have won 43 races since 2013.
 Mercedes added that the team could still issue instructions during the race “to protect against a potential loss of constructors’ points” as they did in Monaco when Rosberg was slower and told to let Hamilton pass.
 Mercedes said the drivers had held “positive talks” with team bosses Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe at the factory yesterday morning.
The team’s non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, who retracted on Wednesday comments he made about Hamilton allegedly trashing his room at a race in Azerbaijan last month and lying about his relationship with Rosberg, was not present.
Vasseur becomes principal of growing Renault F1 team
Renault has appointed Frenchman Frederic Vasseur as principal of its British-based Formula One team which plans to add 100 staff to the payroll this year, Renault Sport Racing president Jerome Stoll said yesterday.
 He added that a mid-season restructuring will also see Renault Sport Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul move to Britain from France to focus on improvements at the Enstone factory.
 Vasseur, who started the season as Racing Director in a team with no official principal, will oversee day-to-day track operations at races and engine activities in Viry-Chatillon, near Paris. “We also have the target of almost 100 extra personnel at Enstone this year as well as over 30 extra personnel at Viry,” Stoll told the official Formula1.com website.
“This is not the work of a moment as we are targeting the very best people in their respective fields.”
 Renault had said when they bought the ailing Lotus team last December that it would add significantly to the factory workforce. Stoll’s comments made clear that Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union had not changed those plans.
 He said Renault, drivers’ and constructors’ champions in 2005 and 2006 with Spaniard Fernando Alonso, was committed to a capital expenditure programme over the next five years to return to the top.
 “Next year we are targeting top five in the constructors’ championship; the year after we want to be regularly fighting for podiums,” he said. “By 2020 we want to be fighting for the championships with the best power unit and best chassis in the sport. This is what we want to achieve.”
 The French carmaker will supply three teams with engines next season—the factory outfit along with Red Bull Racing, whose units are badged as Tag Heuer, and Toro Rosso.
 Renault have scored in only one of nine races so far this season, with Denmark’s Kevin Magnussen seventh in Russia. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won in Spain and finished second in Austria last weekend.
 Technical head Nick Chester said the majority of Renault’s focus was now on the 2017 car.
“We are at the stage where we are defining the chassis, looking at cooling and suspension layouts and developing bodywork in the wind tunnel,” he said in a preview for this Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
“The programme has shifted heavily towards 2017 and we are working through it completely with our power unit colleagues as one team.”