No revenge driving, Hamilton assures

London, Aug 28 (IANS/CMC) Lewis Hamilton has ruled out hitting back at Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in upcoming races, as they continue their heated battle for the Formula One drivers title.

The Brit, whose paternal grandparents are Grenadian, accused Rosberg of purposely causing the collision in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, which eventually forced his retirement and damaged his title chances, reports CMC.

Rosberg went on to finish second behind Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, and opened up a 29-point lead on second placed Hamilton at the top of the standings.

"The weekend was damaging. I don't know how I'm going to get back those 29 points, but what I do know is I've a great group of people behind me," said Hamilton.

"The poor guys on my side of the garage have had quite a lot of bad races. But I know with their support and that of the fans, the fact we've a great car, a great team and we should be finishing one-two, I really hope I can bring them some good results moving forwards.

"Whatever the case I will always put the team first and I won't take anything into my own hands."

Hamilton started from second on the grid behind pole-sitter Rosberg but swiftly took the lead on the first lap. However, Rosberg engineered a daring move on the second lap which resulted in a collision between the two Mercedes cards and a puncture for Hamilton.

Following the race, Hamilton accused the German of deliberately causing the collision, a claim Rosberg has since refuted.

Toto Wolff, one of Mercedes' team bosses, backed Hamilton.

"We had a collision that could have been avoided, a second-lap collision. It was Nico who attacked and he shouldn't have done it," he said.

"It was also to show he was not prepared to give in. With hindsight, if he could turn back time, Nico would probably not do it again in the way he did."

Though having a close friendship in their youth, the relationship between Hamilton and Rosberg has deteriorated significantly following several run-ins this season.

The next race is the Italian Grand Prix at Monza Sep 5-7.

--IANS/CMC

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