British Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton branded a liar by Mercedes boss Niki Lauda after claiming relationship with rival Nico Rosberg had improved
Merc chief also revealed that Hamilton had thrown a hissy fit after missing out on pole position in Baku
LEWIS HAMILTON has been branded a liar by his own boss at Mercedes - amid reports he also trashed his dressing room in a tantrum.
Three-time world champion and Merc chairman, Niki Lauda, says the Brit made up claims that his relationship with bitter enemy Nico Rosberg had improved.
Lauda also revealed Hamilton, 31, threw a spectator hissy-fit after missing out on pole in the European GP last month - lashing out in his changing room.
In an astonishing interview on a TV show owned by rivals Red Bull, Lauda spilled the beans on the combustible Hamilton and his relationship with Rosberg.
When asked about Hamilton's comments that he and Rosberg had buried the hatchet, Lauda said: “Lewis lied about that, simple as that.
”He just said something. He wanted to be the softener in order to have his peace last weekend.
“He does what he can. The fight gets hotter the longer Nico is in front.”
Lauda's bombshell comes after Hamilton spoke longingly about how he two have secretly mellowed over the years.
“It's actually really good with Nico at the moment,” Hamilton told a Sunday newspaper.
“Really, really good. Surprisingly. I would definitely not have expected it to be where it is. I guess it is probably with age.
”He's a family man. He's got a kid. He has probably grown in that process and I have grown and come of age.
“The respect that we have always talked about is bigger than it has ever been.
RELATED STORIES
"The other day, I was swimming in my pool - the building we live in in Monaco, there is a shared communal pool - and I guess he saw me from his apartment and came down and sat on the diving board and when I finished a few laps, we sat and talked for 20 minutes or half an hour. In a relaxed state."
But Lauda's new slant on their relationship will surely heighten the tensions between the two ahead of this weekend's British GP.
They have collided on track three times in the last five races, leaving Mercedes' head of motorsport, Toto Wolff tearing his hair out.
The two's latest flashpoint came last Sunday in Austria when Rosberg drove into Hamilton on the final lap - a move furious Wolff labelled as "brainless".
The two also crashed out on the first lap of the Spanish GP and banged wheels in Montreal, as the strain in the title race beings to show.
Hamilton, who went on to win in Spielberg, was jeered by Rosberg's fans in Austria - despite being cleared of any wrong doing by the race stewards.
Now Merc, who have launched their own investigation into the collision and are considering imposing team orders, fear the reverse at Silverstone if the German wins.
Meanwhile, Lauda confirmed rumours that Hamilton went ballistic in Baku after stuffing up during qualifying.
After ripping into his rivals for criticising track safety, Hamilton came a cropped and smashed up his Merc during qualifying, leaving him furious.
Lauda was quizzed about claims he trashed his room in the team's hospitality unit and did not hold back
He said: "He did it because he had crashed. He'll have to pay for that [the destroyed room]. You can count on that.
“He told me I couldn't come in because he was going to destroy everything. This is how it was.”
It is not the first time Hamilton has trashed a room. SunSport spoke to Hamilton and Rosberg's former team boss from their karting days, Dino Chiesa.
He recalled how the two then teenagers once started throwing bedding out of their hotel room window.
He said: “It started with a little thing and then the other threw something else, and then it was a pillow, and then the mattress as thrown out.
"The reception called me and said 'these two boys are destroying the room'."
Meanwhile, Mercedes have played down Hamilton's strop and insist they have no knowledge of him destroying his drivers' room.
They also say they have no intentions of making him pay up for any damage caused insisting he just kicked a few items around in frustration.