(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) No printed T-shirt after the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi GP.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in action during the Abu Dhabi Etihad Airways Grand Prix on Saturday.Photo by Nezar Balout/ Khaleej Times
Abu Dhabi — Having wrapped up the Constructors’ Championship by a mile this season’s top team Mercedes should obviously be celebrating either of their drivers Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg becoming the sport’s world champion on Sunday.
But they won’t be.
Most teams usually celebrate a race win or title by marking ‘P1’ or ‘Champions’ on their pit-board and pose for a team photo after the conclusion of a race. Some even get T-shirts printed to mark the occasion.
But with both championship contenders Hamilton and Rosberg from the same team Mercedes will be keeping the celebrations low profile and will not have any T-shirts printed after the conclusion of the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday.
“We will have a driver who is going to win the world championship and a driver who is going to come second. I think through the year as a team we have tried to balance it out between the two of them and keep it neutral. They are valuable members of the team and we are going to continue with them next year. And although we are going to honour and celebrate the world championship-winning driver you need to respect that for the other guy it’s going to be a very difficult day in his life. This is why we would like to maintain our role as being fairly neutral in that situation” team boss Toto Wolff said.
The Brackley-based squad have also kept New Zealand sports psychiatrist Ceri Evans on stand-by in the event of Hamilton losing the title.
Regarding the rising tension in the team garage Wolff said that situation was normal when two drivers from the same team after fighting it out.
“The tension is on I would say and it is pretty normal. It has come to the last race now it’s between the two of them it’s the all-defining decision-making race and it’s pretty normal. I wouldn’t say that there is more tension than expected in the garage. There is a good spirit. Today was a good day. It might sound a bit boring but we did our programme lots of running. We did the long runs we expected so all OK for Friday” he said.
Despite the tension Wolff made it clear that he wouldn’t be asking them to keep it down a bit.
“I think at that stage the team doesn’t need to interfere anymore in the relationship between the two. It’s down to them we need to give them the best car so that they can fight it out on track. It makes no sense to try to pretend a… schmoosing — it that how you say it — environment. They are out there to win the world championship. It’s man against man and the tension is there all in a respectful manner” said Wolff.
jameskhaleejtimes.com
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