Competition is enemy number one for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will be allowed to continue race each other according to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

However the Austrian has also clearly stated that sometimes, that situation will have to be reconsidered, depending on the position Mercedes hold during any given Grand Prix weekend.

‘There might be situations where you can’t lose lots of time in battle if you have your enemy right up your back,’ Wolff told the BBC.

‘Bahrain was a very particular situation because our package worked very well there and we had quite a competitive advantage, so it’s easier to take a decision for the sake of racing because you know you have quite a margin to the guy in third place.

‘The narrower that margin gets, the more you have to look out.

‘Our rule is that the competition is enemy number one, not your team-mate, so there might be situations in the race where you have to consider that, but we will see what happens.’

Red Bull Racing and Ferrari have been desperately working to close the gap to Mercedes, who have won all four rounds of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship to-date.

German Nico Rosberg continues to lead the drivers championship with 79 points after he won the Australian Grand Prix and finished second in the following races.

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton is four points behind on 75 points, after he retired from the Australian race, but went on to take a hat-trick of victories with wins in Malaysia, Bahrain and China.

The closest rival to the Mercedes pair at the moment is Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who is 34 points behind Hamilton.

In the constructors championship Mercedes now hold a 97 point advantage over Red Bull.

Wolff concluded: ‘It will be a constant battle through the season,’