LEWIS HAMILTON is begging Mercedes not to rob fans of seeing him race his heart out at Silverstone.
The three-time world champion won Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix despite being rammed off the road by bitter rival Nico Rosberg.
And after the pair’s THIRD shunt in FIVE races, Brit Hamilton, 31, fears their Merc bosses will ban them from racing each other at the British GP.
German Rosberg, 31, denied blame for their last-lap smash, even though he was rapped with a ten-second penalty as he finished fourth.
If Mercedes imposed team orders, the feuding pair could be allowed to lock horns for a certain number of laps, with whoever was behind at that point then banned from overtaking their team-mate.
That would be a disaster for Silverstone, where general admission tickets for a weekend cost a MINIMUM £240.
Speaking of his fear over team orders, Hamilton snapped: “I didn’t come into racing to be in that situation.
“I will pray that’s not the situation. Firstly for myself, as that would take the joy of racing out and, secondly, for fans as it will rob them of what they pay so much for.
“From day one, they said we can race and it’s what I was doing. That’s why fans turn up and sit in mud in a camper van at Silverstone.
“Fans would not love team orders. As a competitor, I’ve got to get on pole and lead the fricking whole way for the fans.”
Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone will keep a close eye on developments, because holding back Hamilton in front of a sell-out 130,000 crowd would be make the sport a laughing stock.
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Hamilton added: “It goes against all my values, rules and the foundation of what racing’s about. They hire me as a racing driver to race.”
Rosberg’s lead at the top of the championship was chopped down to 11 points by Hamilton after he picked up Britain’s 250th ever Grand Prix win.
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