Lauda: Hamilton ‘destroyed’ luxury hospitality suite after losing to Rosberg

On Wednesday, however, Mercedes issued a statement saying Lauda “regrets any misunderstanding” caused by his comments.

Mercedes have denied Lewis Hamilton “damaged” his hotel room or his private driver room following the European Grand Prix, after comments made by Niki Lauda claimed otherwise.

Following an interview with Servus TV, which was filmed prior to Hamilton and Rosberg’s collision in the Austrian Grand Prix but shown afterwards, non-executive Mercedes chairman Lauda says Hamilton “lied” when he said his relationship with his team-mate was “surprisingly good”. Lauda appears to have been instructed by Mercedes to back away from his remarks, in which he described Hamilton’s anger after he clipped a barrier and lost out on pole position to Rosberg in Azerbaijan.

“There’s a question over whether you can interfere in a guy’s career like that”, he said. “He told me I couldn’t come in because he was going to destroy everything”.

“Lewis Hamilton did not lie about his relationship with team-mate Nico Rosberg. It’s quite simple. It will get worse the more Rosberg gets ahead”. Hamilton finished fifth in Baku while Rosberg went on to win the race last month. The team principal, Toto Wolff, is also reluctant to impose them.

The drivers have collided twice this season.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will ignore team orders as the world title fight hots up.