McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has said that he does not plan to get his driver Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Felipe Massa to "shake hands" to end their recent altercations, saying that the drivers had to sort the issue themselves.
Massa and Hamilton have been involved in a series of on-track incidents throughout 2011, the latest coming when they collided during the Indian Grand Prix on Sunday.After the race, Hamilton admitted that Massa was still not speaking to him after collisions between the pair earlier in the season, and while Massa denied there was a 'feud' between them, he said that he was not happy with Hamilton.
But Whitmarsh said after Sunday's race that he had no plans to intervene and manufacture some sort of happy reconciliation between the drivers.
"They're young drivers but they're not that young. They're men, they've got to figure it out for themselves," he told reporters after the Indian GP.
"It would be nice if we got a situation where they're not drawn together magnetically on the circuit and we didn't have those incidents."
He added: "I have discussed it with Ferrari but I think it's got to come from in them. This is not the time.
"If I arranged for the two of them to shake hands outside the garage to shake hands you would all take a picture and have a laugh about it. They have to sort that out between themselves."
Whitmarsh's position on the 'spat' was backed up by Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, who said that the teams could not avoid the fact that the duo were racing together on track.
"We can sit down together and play cards but it will not solve the issue," Domenicali mused, shuffling the deck as he did so.
"One thing that is crucial in my view is that we need to make sure there is a coherent approach from the stewards about things that happen on the track. There is a lot of discussion about that."
He added: "We cannot avoid the fact there were a lot of kisses between them on the track. We cannot have these things being bigger than they are because they will be on the mind of the drivers which is not good.
"It will be solved by what I said before and a little bit of time."
Hamilton insisted that he had tried to draw a line under the issue before the Indian race, attempting to wish Massa good luck before the race, but the Brazilian appeared unimpressed by the gesture.
On that subject, Domenicali added: "You will recall that Felipe went to see him in Singapore, and Lewis decided to do other stuff.
"Felipe showed that he wanted to speak with him. That's a fact. But we need to overcome this issue and solve it because it is not good for anyone."
And Domenicali admitted that he had been "surprised" to see Massa penalised by the stewards for the latest crash in India, when he picked up a drive-through penalty.
"As you know I always say that I respect the decision of the referee but I was surprised when I saw that decision," he mused.
"When I saw that Felipe was in front at the apex of the corner our reasoning was that he had the line to get the corner. I felt surprised.
"You may have a different opinion but it is what I feel."
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