Triple Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has scorned title rival Sebastian Vettel claiming it’s the German who would shy away from joining him at the same team.
The prospect of the two most successful drivers currently on the grid sharing the same garage has always been a small one, with Vettel particularly known to try and bring a team around him as was the case at Red Bull and is now at Ferrari.
Yet, amid speculation that Mercedes is interested in bringing the four-time world champion to Brackley for 2019, should Hamilton renew his contract, which expires after next year, it is not a complete impossibility that the two could line-up together.
If the Briton is to be believed, however, the potential dream team certainly won’t happen and it won’t be because he wasn’t willing to test himself against the 30-year-old.
“I think it’s highly unlikely that he would be here, I don’t think he wants to be my teammate,” he said at Spa on Thursday. “I’m always game to race whoever it is and racing against the best drivers is always a great thing.”
Offering his view on why he doubts Vettel would team up with him, Hamilton hinted that the four-time world champion wouldn’t like the lack of a ‘number one’ driver status which he’s widely believed to hold at Ferrari.
“I’m stating the obvious, but I know he doesn’t want to be my teammate because he wouldn’t be in the position he is in now in terms of how the team operates if he was here,” he claimed.
As it is, Mercedes currently enjoy a much more relaxed partnership in the team as the harmony between Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who joined in January, has been well documented.
“I think the team is in a very very good [place],” he said. “The last race is actually one of the best examples of how great the team is currently.
“Coming into this season I haven’t changed a single thing that I do but there is a new element in the team and it works. So I don’t believe any of the bosses or any individual at the team is unhappy with what is currently in place, so I find it unlikely they would change that.”
Bottas is in talks over a new contract with Mercedes, having only signed a one-year deal with the current world champions and an extension at least for one more season is widely expected.
