Hamilton and Russell came to blows in dramatic fashion on the opening lap in Qatar in an incident which forced the seven-time world c♍hampion into retirement and left Russell at the back of the field.

Russell recovered to salvage fourth place while Hamilton put his hands up aꦏnd took full responsibility for the collision, after both drivers had initially blamed each other on team radio.

Hamilton and Russell were later seen embracing in the Qatar paddock as they appeared to p꧃ut the incident behin𒐪d them.

There have been suggestions that there will be more fire𒊎works between the Merc⛦edes duo, but team principal Wolff doubts that will be the case.

“The last round in Qatar was a casꦕe of what might have been,” Wolff said. “As a team, you never want to see your cars collide. It was frustrating to leave a lot𓆏 of points on the table, particularly as the pace of the car was strong.

“It w🦩as encouraging though to see how the drivers and the team reacted. Both Lewis and George know the team comes first and do not ever i♛ntend to jeopardise that. I am sure we will all grow from this moment.

“We're now focused on Austin and making sure we get the most out of each upcom🃏ing weekend.”

Mercedes will introduce a new floor upgrade to the W14 at this weekend’s United ꧑States Grand Prix in the hope it will boost their bid to claim second spot in the constructors' championship.

“We'll be bringing a modified floor, which is the last significant update we will take to the track this year,” Wolff said. “It will hopefully bring a small gain but more importantly, 🌃is anotheꦦr milestone in setting our development path for W15.

“The battle for second in the Con♏structors' has become more intense in recent races.“We𓄧 will keep our heads down, keep pushing and aim to score as many points as we can to increase our advantage.”