Hamilton insists Vettel would never be his team-mate

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has highlighted his belief that Sebastian Vettel would not be willing to share a team with him, as the ‘silly-season’ rumour mill continues to turn.

Hamilton and Vettel – who share a combined total of seven world drivers’ championships – are currently embroiled in a titanic title tussle. As they enter the second half of the campaign Vettel leads the Englishman by a slender 14 points.

With Vettel yet to confirm a contract extension at Ferrari and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas also without a 2018 contract at present, ‘silly-season’ has sighted the potential for the championship leader to head to Mercedes next season and join Hamilton.

However, given that Ferrari is expected to announce a renewal of Vettel’s services at the Italian Grand Prix – a theory supported by their re-signing of Kimi Raikkonen this week – a Mercedes move for the quadruple champion is highly unlikely.

Regardless, it has sparked an interesting debate as to how viable a ‘super-team’ of Vettel and Hamilton would be.

“I think it’s highly unlikely that Seb [Vettel] will be at Mercedes,” Hamilton stated. “I don’t think he wants to be my team-mate.

“It works [with Valtteri] so I don’t think any of the bosses or any individual in the team is unhappy with what is currently in place so I find it hard to believe they would change that.

“I know Seb doesn’t want to be my team-mate. He wouldn’t be in the position he is now in his team, in terms of how the team operates, if he was here.”

Unlike at Ferrari, Mercedes have allowed Hamilton and team-mate Bottas to race as equals this season, despite the potential championship implications this policy bares.

This team manifesto was in evidence at Hungary, when Hamilton allowed Bottas to re-take third place in the closing moments of the race, having been unable to pass Raikkonen and therefore uphold his part of a deal made earlier.

Meanwhile, Ferrari has continued their tradition of electing a lead driver and supporting his aspirations. Vettel has found himself in the luxurious position of being relatively unchallenged by the driver with which he shares a garage this season.

Whether these differing team philosophies will have a baring on the championship is yet unclear. What it does mean is that despite Hamilton being “game to race whoever it is,” it is unlikely that he would be joined in the same team by his chief rival anytime soon.