Mercedes would go as far as suspending their drivers for a race if the situation were to call for it, according to team boss Toto Wolff.
New sanctions have been put in place to avoid a repeat of their clashes in Spain and Austria, and although Wolff wouldn't be drawn on the details of what that might include, he hinted that race bans were a possibility should the situation warrant it.
The Austrian did however warn that activating that penalty would prove their system of allowing their drivers to race had failed, and it would therefore be a last resort.
"If we left Lewis at home, it’d mean the system that we created three years ago of letting the drivers race has failed," he told Sky Sports.
"It is a failure for all of us, it’s a failure… mostly from the drivers. It’s their responsibility because none of us can grab the steering wheel in the cockpit.
"Then obviously having two equal drivers in the car racing each other does not function. Would we go as far [as suspending them]? Yes, we would go as far to make sure that it does not happen in the future anymore. That’s 100% clear. But I’m very optimistic that it’s not going to be needed."
Although Mercedes have chosen not to implement team orders yet, Wolff explained that they would step in if they find themselves in a situation like Austria, where their cars were marginal on reliability, to ensure they bring home the maximum points.
"We had a situation where both cars were clearly… I would not say damaged but the brakes were not in the state where they could properly race each other.
"In that particular situation, we need to stop the racing because we have two cars breaking down. So we would probably interfere and say ‘we have not got the car underneath you to race’."
