Handle Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg with care, Alain Prost warns
Former world champion says the team had overreacted to recent on-track incidents involving their drivers
Alain Prost has warned Mercedes to be extra careful in their handling of the street-fighting duel between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.
The four-time former world champion, who was embroiled in a similar intra-team scrap with Ayrton Senna when both raced for McLaren in the late 1980s, said he felt Mercedes overreacted.
As the heat intensifies ahead of the final races of a gripping season dominated by Mercedes, both men have sought to avoid inflaming a rivalry that team chief Christian "Toto" Wolff this week described as "like enemies".
That is stupid what I read, 'he has done it on purpose' - it's really absolutely impossible
Prost, however, believes such emotive language has made the situation worse.
"I don't think the team has been 100 per cent right," said the Frenchman.
"In Hungary and in Spa, they were not right, not 100 per cent. They should react only to the facts and not the consequences."
Acting in his role as an ambassador for Renault, Prost added: "The consequence in Spa was very bad - they lost a race that they should not lose, and for Lewis it was very bad.
"That's the consequence, but the fact is almost nothing - it's just a misjudgment. You cannot do that on purpose because you know there is a much better chance to break your front wing and not cause a puncture.