Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has revealed that a furious Lewis Hamilton destroyed his private room inside the Mercedes offices following his European Grand Prix qualifying crash.
Hamilton started the race from tenth after hitting the wall during qualifying, but had been quickest in all previous sessions. With the Briton out of action in Q3, it was team-mate and championship leader Nico Rosberg that took pole and the race win, whilst Hamilton had to settle for fifth.
On the Saturday evening after qualifying, Lauda claims Hamilton – who was furious about his mistake – destroyed his private room which sits inside the Mercedes offices in the Baku paddock.
"He did it because he had crashed. He’ll have to pay for that [damage]. You can count on that," he told Servus TV in an exclusive interview broadcast on Monday, but filmed prior to the Austrian GP.
Related: Relationship with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg 'really good' now – Lewis Hamilton
"He told me I couldn’t come in [to his room] because he was going to destroy everything. This is how it was."
Lauda also revealed that Hamilton and Rosberg's relationship isn't as happy as Hamilton claimed in a recent interview with the Mail on Sunday, in which he claimed things were "really good at the moment".
"Lewis lied about that, simple as that,” added Lauda. "He just said something. He wanted to be the softener in order to have his peace last weekend.
"He does what he can. The fight gets hotter the longer Nico is in front [in the standings]."
