Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has insisted that the ongoing spat between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg comes as little surprise to him, suggesting that he is more than happy for the dispute to continue.

Rosberg accused his teammate of deliberately driving slowly when in front last weekend, which allowed others to close in, but the Englishman hit back by claiming that he was simply preserving his tyres.

Wolff revealed earlier this week that the matter had been resolved, but he has now had a further say on the events which somewhat overshadowed Hamilton's eventual fourth career win at the Shanghai International Circuit.

"We saw tensions between Nico and Lewis in the race and we tackled them directly on Sunday night to stop anything carrying over to this weekend," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"When you have intense competition, it's normal that it causes emotions to run high - and that's not something we want to change. We will have new challenges to face as a team, with another competitor who is much closer to our level of performance."

Hamilton currently leads the drivers' standings after three races, with Rosberg sitting closely behind in second.