Hamilton may be in trouble with team

LEWIS Hamilton’s Mercedes team will hold talks in the coming days to determine whether the British driver should face disciplinary action for ignoring orders at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton claimed his fourth straight victory yesterday but was unable to stop Nico Rosberg (pictured celebrating with his wife Vivian) from taking his championship crown after the German finished second.

The title battle hung i n the balance until the chequered flag after Hamilton, who needed Rosberg to finish outside the top three, deliberately backed his team-mate into the chasing pack.

Hamilton ignored two direct orders from his Mercedes team, the most senior of which came from technical boss Paddy Lowe, with the top four crossing the line separated by just 1.6 seconds.

Mercedes were unhappy with Hamilton’s disregard for their rules. Earlier this season Hamilton and Rosberg were both warned they could be fined, or even suspended, if they broke the strict terms of engagement which have been laid down by the team.

“Undermining a structure in public means you are putting yourself before the team,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said. “It is very simple. Anarchy does not work in any team, and in any company.

“It is about finding a solution as to how to solve this in the future because a precedent has been set.

“We need to look at the overall situation and say ‘ what does it mean?’ Everything is possible.

“Maybe we want to give them more freedom next year, or go with the harsher side where we feel the values were not respected.

“I am not sure yet where my finger is going to point or the needle is going to go.”

For his part, Hamilton, who ended the season with one more victory than Rosberg, denied any wrongdoing.

“I’m out there fighting and I generally never try to do anything to harm the team or the brand or anything like that,” said Hamilton, whose scheduled post-race media session with the print press was subsequently cancelled.

“But we’ve won the constructors’ championship so it was down to me and Nico.

“However, they still felt they needed to make comments. We’ll discuss it afterwards as we always do as a team and pull back in.”

A nervous Rosberg survived a late onslaught from Sebastian Vettel to follow in the footsteps of his father Keke, the 1982 world champion, who arrived in the paddock after the race.

Puffing on a cigar, he revealed he watched the race from nearby Dubai fearing a visit to the track would derail his son’s focus.

Rosberg has been the favourite to win the title ever since his victory in Japan on October 9.