Lewis Hamilton dismissed speculation his championship rival Sebastian Vettel might join him at Mercedes in the future.
However Hamilton doubts Vettel is about to join them. “I think it rather unlikely for him to join Mercedes,” he said.
“I don’t think he wants to be my team mate. But I am always ready to race against anybody, whoever that is.”
Hamilton has been a team mate to world champions before: Jenson Button between 2010 and 2012, and Fernando Alonso in 2007. Vettel’s team mate for the past three seasons has been another world champion, Kimi Raikkonen, who has already signed to remain at Ferrari next year.
Hamilton said consistency and reliability are his and the team’s priorities over the final nine races of the year.
“Coming to the second half of the season, reliability is a thing every single individual in the team is working very hard on, to make sure that it doesn’t come into play for us,” he said.
“For me, I want to be even more consistent than I have been this year. Ferrari’s consistency will be a point and it is clear that on certain tracks our car will be working better, on some theirs, so it will mean minimizing the losses on those tracks where we will not do so well. Damage limitation will play a role in this championship fight.”
harsha vardhan maagalam (@harsharip)
24th August 2017, 21:02
First of all, Hamilton doesn’t have contract for 2018, Merc had a 2 +1 deal in 2015. So he will be out of contract if they don’t extend it.
And these kinds of comments shows who respects other drivers.
kartguy07 (@kartguy07)
24th August 2017, 22:05
@harsharip
Hamilton signed a 3 year deal in 2015, sure, but it was to run from 2016-2018 inclusive.
As to such comments – pure mind games, lots of drivers do it. I don’t think Hamilton should be singled out for it specifically, especially not branding him for lack of respect.
miki
25th August 2017, 6:00
Guess he was saying the same i think
2016-2017 (2 ) + 2018(1). If he is right unless Merc or Hamilton who ever has the contract extension in their pocket triggers it to run in 2018 they can’t. Though i dont know much to be honest i see the same grid at the top end in 2018.
ChryslerNewYorker (@dantedenljung)
25th August 2017, 8:25
So what point are you trying to make, Miki?
miki
25th August 2017, 10:17
Nothing is going to change at the Top
Randy
24th August 2017, 22:54
He’d better hope Vettel doesn’t want to be his teammate. If ROS was a handful for HAM, VET would be much more so.
I’d love to see it though – then Alonso would go back to Red.
Maybe Alonso knows something after all.
Jon (@johns23)
24th August 2017, 23:53
Your downplaying how good Nico Rosberg actually was.
As33
25th August 2017, 0:00
Vettel only had one team-mate better than Rosberg and he was hammered
zeus_m3
25th August 2017, 1:30
Webber beat Rosberg in Williams.
As33
25th August 2017, 4:03
Rosberg was a rookie. We are talking about 2018 so bringing something that happened in 2006 is barely relevant.
faulty
25th August 2017, 5:02
Yet some people always bring up 2007.
Rick
25th August 2017, 8:09
Why ? That would only be worth it if a rookie beat the best driver on the grid……..oh wait !
Yeezy918 (@)
25th August 2017, 6:12
Rosberg managed to scrape a championship through grossly lopsided reliability. Vettel would be a much tougher opponent and would challenge Lewis on merit. Shame we will never see it happen in the same team!
Todfod (@todfod)
25th August 2017, 7:57
I think it would be an intriguing teammate battle if they were paired up. Vettel might go in as favourite to win that battle, due to his sheer consistency, but then again Vettel only shines when he’s got clear number 1 status in the team. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see the battle because Vettel is too much of a coward to take on a competitive teammate on equal terms.
Robbie (@robbie)
25th August 2017, 12:30
@todfod ‘Too much of a coward…’ I take it you are even more strongly against MS and his character and career then?
Todfod (@todfod)
26th August 2017, 5:45
@robbie
Yes. I am.
krxx
28th August 2017, 10:12
@todfod @robbie
Yet you’re an Alonso fan, who is the driver on the current grid that most resemble’s MS in terms of racing philosophy including having a clear number one.
Fireblade
24th August 2017, 23:16
Given Hamilton’s record against all his previous teammates, including Bottas so far, I don’t think Vettel would have much to worry about. The only driver Lewis has ever made look bad was Kovalainen – and let’s face it, HK was a flop in F1.
Strontium (@strontium)
25th August 2017, 0:31
I don’t think Kovalainen was a flop in F1, as such. Much like Perez (and Magnussen?), he went to McLaren before he was ready, and as a result he struggled to find a good drive after that, and then any drive at all after that.
Fireblade
25th August 2017, 1:15
Sounds like the definition of a flop to me. Good drivers, like Perez, tend to stick around in F1 even if they have a season of struggle.
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
25th August 2017, 6:44
@Fireblade……
I think Vettel might have rather a lot to ‘worry about’.
Hamilton’s record against his team mates is:
Hamilton 1 Alonso 0. (Tied on points but ranked ahead on count back).
Hamilton 2 Button 1.
Hamilton 3 Rosberg 1.
He also has never asked for nor expected number one treatment from any team. The same cannot be said from, for example, Alonso, Vettel and Schumacher.
I doubt Vettel fancies his chances against Hamilton in equal equipment. I would love to see it though, and hope it happens!
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
25th August 2017, 11:54
@paulguitar indeed and the ones Lewis lost were down to a few incidents that were out of his control – ironically they were in the other driver’s hands. Montréal 2011 (collision with Button) and Spain 2016 (collision with Rosberg). Both times the other driver cut into Lewis taking him out.
Robbie (@robbie)
25th August 2017, 12:37
@paulguitar I doubt Vettel has any doubts about his abilities against LH. He’s a 4 time WDC and is leading LH as we speak. And your speculation about what LH may or may not have asked for in terms of status is not something we would know, but he certainly has expected favourable treatment in many of his races as indicated by his requests for such via the radio and favouring strategies to have his team help him get by his teammates…eg even after sealing up the WDC in 2015.
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
25th August 2017, 16:10
Hi @robbie. Indeed, I agree, I doubt Vettel himself is exactly ‘insecure’… I am a fan of both, but I personally suspect that Lewis would come out on top in this fight. it is something I would really love to see though, if it happens, probably the most tasty team mate pairing since Lewis and Fernando. I doubt it will happen though, sadly.
I think when it comes to equal treatment in the team, Lewis has been shown to be open to accepting anyone as a team mate on equal terms. I accept your point that once the season is underway he will, as most racing drivers will, try to eke out any advantage available to him. But, he won’t veto any potential driver as a team mate in the way some others apparently do.
Robbie (@robbie)
25th August 2017, 19:40
@paulguitar Fair comment.
Jon (@johns23)
24th August 2017, 23:52
Of course he wouldnt while Lewis is there. Vettel is smart. Why would you leave a team in a strong position and have a team mate who is a number 2? He has got it made at Ferrari! Wouldn’t think Lewis would move either if he had a number 2 driver
Neil (@neilosjames)
25th August 2017, 0:11
Deep down, I don’t think any of the three regularly referred to ‘top drivers’ would want one of the others as a team-mate, if he had a choice in the matter.
Vettel, definitely not. Alonso, the same if not more so. Hamilton is perhaps more open to it than the other two (he’s more used to tougher team-mates, and seems happy enough with the very talented Bottas) but I can’t see him being happy with Alonso or Vettel either.
But I can’t really criticise any of them for it, seeing as every top driver in my lifetime has appeared to prefer being undisputed No. 1 Rooster…
Fireblade
25th August 2017, 1:22
I don’t think any of Hamilton’s teammates (with the exception of Alonso) were regarded as “very talented” until they drove alongside Hamilton and showed their ability to compete with him or even beat him. At which point, rather than question whether Lewis is as good as he’s made out to be, the tendency is to elevate Button, Rosberg, and now Bottas.
anon
25th August 2017, 7:58
Fireblade, So, by that token, would you downgrade Alonso because, back in 2004, he was being beaten by Trulli when they drove together at Renault? Or because Button finished ahead of Alonso in the 2015 WDC standings?
Have we not also seem a similar phenomenon with Vettel and Ricciardo, with Ricciardo’s abilities receiving much more praise when he beat Vettel when they were together at Red Bull? Or the questions raised over his performance in 2016 when Kimi managed to beat him 11-10 in qualifying and ran him much closer in the WDC than many expected he would? After all, at the same stage in the championship in 2016 that we are at now in 2017, Vettel was actually behind Kimi in the WDC (after the 2016 Hungarian GP, which was also 11 races in, Kimi had 114 points to 110 for Vettel).
It’s not just Hamilton whom we have seen such logic being applied to, as others have pointed to similar instances of Alonso and Vettel not performing as strongly as expected.
Neil (@neilosjames)
25th August 2017, 11:14
Maybe they weren’t regarded by you as being anything special, but they were by many others. I certainly considered Bottas and Rosberg to be very talented before they drove alongside Hamilton… and Button was a recent world champion.
George J. Zaidan
25th August 2017, 0:35
It’s not that Vettel doesn’t want to be Hamilton’s team mate it’s important for Vettel that he wins a WDC in a Ferrari.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
25th August 2017, 5:43
in other breaking news, two wrongs still don’t make a right…
Kgn11
25th August 2017, 6:31
Wow everyone’s mad at Lewis for stating the obvious? Horner said the same thing when Lewis approached them for a driver in 2011.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
25th August 2017, 12:12
Let’s wait and see how Vettel does against Raikonnen now that he’s been signed:-) This could be 2016 redux.
Robbie (@robbie)
25th August 2017, 13:18
KR is pretty much still out of the running in spite of the re-signing, unless you take the math literally and ignore the odds, and think suddenly they’ll have KR take points away from SV. I think whenever the situation lends itself we’ll be seeing SV head KR by the ends of the coming races. Of KR is bolstered by the re-signing and potentially an upgraded car that will only help keep LH and VB at bay whenever possible.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
25th August 2017, 18:18
Raikonnen doesn’t need to beat Vettel in points – he just has to outperform Vettel as he did at the end of last year. If Ferrari keeps sacrificing Raikonnen in favor of Vettel, Ferrari will end up hurting Vettel more than help him.
Robbie (@robbie)
25th August 2017, 19:48
In spite of how it appears, and what the popular opinion seems to be, I don’t think KR would agree that he has been sacrificed in favour of SV. I think KR would admit first and foremost that he did not come out of the box at the start of the season strong enough. He will admit he had every opportunity that Seb had but just didn’t put it together like Seb did.
This notion that Kimi is Seb’s number 2…as in, like it’s permanent or something, or has been the case from race 1…not buying that for a second. Kimi would not have re-signed if he felt he would not be afforded the same opportunity as Seb at the start of next year. This year is already gone for Kimi so his role is to help them win the Constructors, and keep as many points away from LH and VB as he can.
Todfod (@todfod)
26th August 2017, 7:32
@freelittlebirds
Even if Kimi does outperform Seb for the 2nd half of the season, Ferrari won’t allow it. In 2016, they had no chance at the championship, so it was OK for Kimi to finish in front of Seb. They’ve already got Kimi to play #2 driver by the mid point of this season, so I expect him to just move over for Seb in the upcoming races.
Robbie (@robbie)
25th August 2017, 13:26
‘If’ KR is bolstered…that should read…
A S (@aminsarur)
25th August 2017, 13:35
Vettel is hammering Hamilton in a less competitive car, if both were at Mercedes Vettel would destroy him
Thomson (@fish123)
25th August 2017, 16:02
agreed
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
25th August 2017, 16:18
@aminsarur
Here in the real world, Vettel is simply not ‘hammering Hamilton in a less competitive car’.
This year’s title fight is close. Hamilton would be leading it had he not had the headrest issue, shortly after the Vettel childish temper tantrum in Baku. Also, the Ferrari has been the class of the field at some venues this season.
It seems a a comical stretch to speculate Vettel would ‘destroy’ Hamilton in equal equipment. He is unlikely to take that challenge on, sadly, so we will probably not get to find out.
Esploratore
26th August 2017, 3:23
While I agree with the headrest which costed him 17 points vs vettel, can we please make these maths fair and point out vettel also lost 6 points due to a puncture, so hamilton gains 11 points overall and vettel is still in the lead?
Todfod (@todfod)
26th August 2017, 7:34
If Vettel was in Mercedes he wouldn’t be the #1 driver, which would mean he wouldn’t be as strong as he is now. Hamilton would be beating Vettel similarly to how Ricciardo was beating Vettel in 2014.
Mamu
26th August 2017, 4:11
Hamilton vs Vettel, Euro Formula 3 series, 2005.
Same car, same engine.
Hamilton wiped there floor with Vettel, winning the title as Vettel came a distant fifth.
Vettel was destroyed by Ricciardo in the same car at RBR, running off to Ferrari where number one status is guaranteed.
Hamilton would destroy Vettel at Mercedes.