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Mercedes won't impose team orders on Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

World champs leave drivers 'free to race' but add extra deterrents against contact & warn team orders will be issued as 'a last resort'

Mercedes have confirmed they will not impose team orders on Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton despite their collision in Austria.

But both drivers have been warned the team will not accept a repeat and Mercedes have reinforced 'their rules of engagement to include much greater deterrents to contact between our cars'.

But if those deterrents - the nature of which Mercedes have not divulged - are not respected, the team have stressed they may issue team orders.

Read all about it: Mercedes statement in full

'If the drivers do not honour the revised rules of engagement we may impose team orders as a solution of last resort,' a statement declared. 

'Their destiny is in their own hands.'

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Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide on the last lap of the Austrian GP giving Hamilton the lead and Rosberg a broken wing

Hamilton and Rosberg have also been told by Mercedes the team 'may issue instructions during the race to protect against a potential loss of Constructors' points, such as we did at this year's Monaco GP when Nico was instructed to let Lewis pass'.

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"We're still able to race which is a positive and great for the fans," said Hamilton. "Everyone should be excited by that.

"The destiny has always been in our hands. Nothing has changed there."

Mercedes' management met with Hamilton and Rosberg at the team's Brackley factory on Thursday morning ahead of this weekend's British GP at Silverstone.

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Lewis Hamilton didn't seem overly worried about the 'greater deterrents' Mercedes have issued to him and Nico Rosberg after they made contact in the Austrian GP.

'Our drivers were informed that they remain free to race for the World Championship,' said Mercedes. But Rosberg and Hamilton have been warned 'this freedom comes with a duty for our drivers to respect the values of the team.'

When is the British GP on Sky Sports and how can you watch?

The Mercedes team-mates collided on the final lap of last Sunday's Austrian GP, with Hamilton going on to win the race as Rosberg dropped to fourth with a broken wing.

Stewards found Rosberg at fault for the accident and handed the championship leader a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points on his race licence.

It was the third time in five races that the pair had made contact and a seething team boss Toto Wolff warned the team would consider introducing team orders at certain stages of races to avoid repeat clashes.

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