Team orders for Mercedes after 'star wars' incident in Austria?

Britain - Mercedes will decide in the next two days how to proceed in the wake of the latest collision between team mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Boss Toto Wolff left Austria declaring that team orders would be back on the table in the talks to be held prior to the British grand prix this weekend (July 8-10 2016).

But the Telegraph reported that more extreme options, like the spectre of huge financial penalties or even race suspensions, may also be under consideration by the reigning champion team.

No team orders

World champion Hamilton said he hopes team orders are not implemented because it would take the "joy" of racing away from him and "rob" the fans.

But even Niki Lauda, Mercedes' team chairman who has always argued against the imposition of team orders, admitted the German squad has a tough call to make.

READ: Wolff - 'We're looking like a bunch of idiots'

Lauda told Bild newspaper: "We set up clear rules after the crash at Spa (in 2014) but now it's happened again in Barcelona and Austria. So it doesn't work anymore."

Lauda's new opinion could be driven by the spectre of competition, with the Formula 1 legend warning that Ferrari continues to close on Mercedes.

Lauda admitted to German broadcaster RTL: "Ferrari are there, there's no question."

Good for the sport

Corriere dello Sport, an Italian specialist daily, said the events of the Red Bull Ring showed that the problem at Mercedes is "the absolute lack of mutual respect between the two drivers".

READ: 6 times Rosberg and Hamilton battled, crashed on track

Red Bull's Christian Horner thinks the duo might even now be "untenable", but he also thinks team orders would be wrong.

Horner said: "I think their advantage over the others is big enough and a rivalry like that is also good for the sport."