Toto Wolff confirmed that Mercedes are considering taking disciplinary action against Lewis Hamilton after he deliberately backed Nico Rosberg into Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen to try and keep hold of his Formula One world championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, all to no avail.

Hamilton’s tactics, which saw him lap the Yas Marina Circuit nine-seconds slower on his final lap than his pole-setting time, caused an unwelcome headache for the Mercedes hierarchy in the pit lane, and even led executive director Paddy Lowe to radio Hamilton in an effort to speed him up.

With Vettel closing in on much fresher tyres, Mercedes feared they would lose the race win, although that was the least of Hamilton’s concerns as he needed two drivers between himself and Rosberg in order to hold onto his world title. Rosberg would hold on to second and clinch his maiden championship, emulating his father, Keke, who won the F1 world championship in 1982, but much of the fallout in Abu Dhabi surrounded Hamilton’s disregard of team orders.

“Undermining a structure in public means you are putting yourself before the team,” Wolff said. “It is very simple. Anarchy does not work in any team and in any company.”

But the Mercedes head of motorsport also said he will sleep on it before deciding whether to punish Hamilton, and accepted that part of what makes the three-time world champion so good is his relentless desire to win at all costs.

“The other half of me says it was Lewis’s only chance of winning the championship at the stage, and maybe you cannot demand a racing driver that is one of the best, if not the best out there, to comply in a situation where his instincts cannot make him comply,” Wolff added.

“It is about finding a solution as to how to solve that in the future because a precedent has been set. Let me sleep overnight and come up with a solution.”

Hamilton congratulated Rosberg after the race, both in parc ferme and on the podium, and labelled Rosberg a “worthy champion” even though he was keen to stress that his reliability troubles this season have led to this result. But he also defended his actions and insisted he did nothing wrong.

“I did nothing dangerous so I don’t feel I did anything unfair,” Hamilton said. “We were fighting for the world championship. I was leading. I control the pace. That’s the rules.”

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg embark on the drivers' parade. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Jenson Button and Felipe Massa prepare to wave goodbye to F1 ahead of their final races. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Hamilton led into the first corner as Rosberg held on to second. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Max Verstappen recovers after spinning at the first corner and dropping to last. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Hamilton was immediately off the pace as he tried to back the field up to attack Rosberg. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix A smart strategy from Red Bull got both of their cars in front of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Hamilton looked comfortable in the lead throughout the race. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Ricciardo was running up in third before he saw teammate Max Verstappen move ahead of him. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Hamilton continues to lead the way. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Button's final race ends in sadness as the front-right suspension failed on his McLaren to force him to retire. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Hamilton crosses the line to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Rosberg secures the first title of his career. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Rosberg crowdsurfs on his Mercedes mechanics in celebration. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Rosberg celebrates his title success as Hamilton applauds his Mercedes teammate. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Hamilton lost his grip on the F1 world championship. Getty Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Rosberg and Hamilton shake hands on the podium. Getty

Mercedes have taken a very relaxed approach over Hamilton and Rosberg since the former McLaren driver arrived in 2013, but they were unusually strict in their team orders in fear of losing the race victory to Ferrari. Former F1 race-winner Johnny Herbert was highly critical of their interference after not allowing their two drivers to race naturally, but Wolff admitted he didn’t know what to do about the scenario.

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