Lauda Denies Hamilton 'Lied' or 'Destroyed' Room

The Mercedes team has denied Niki Lauda's claims that Lewis Hamilton destroyed a room and lied about his relationship with Nico Rosberg over the European Grand Prix weekend.

Lauda told Red Bull's channel Servus TV that Hamilton had "destroyed" his room at the Mercedes offices after crashing during qualifying for the Baku event.

"He did it because he had crashed. He'll have to pay for that [the destroyed room]. You can count on that," Lauda said.

"He told me I couldn't come in because he was going to destroy everything. This is how it was."

The three-time champion, a non-executive chairman at Mercedes, also said Hamilton had "lied" about his relationship with Rosberg being really good.

On Wednesday, however, Mercedes issued a statement saying Lauda "regrets any misunderstanding" caused by his comments.

The Mercedes statement said: "Following his appearance on a television discussion show on Servus TV recorded prior to last weekend's Austrian GP, Niki Lauda would like to set the record straight and state the following:

"Lewis Hamilton did not in any way damage a hotel room or his private driver room at the circuit during the race weekend in Baku; and Lewis Hamilton did not lie about his relationship with teammate Nico Rosberg.

"Niki regrets any misunderstanding caused by comments that have been blown wildly out of proportion compared with the casual context in which they were made."

Mercedes is expected to make a decision on Thursday on whether it imposes team orders from now on following the latest crash between Hamilton and Rosberg in Austria.

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