Hamilton rubbishes speculated Vettel move to Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has laughed off a recent rumour that suggests that Sebastian Vettel may leave Ferrari at the end of 2017 to become his team mate at Mercedes. This follows a statement from the German driver, which revealed that a decision regarding his future in Formula 1 was not imminent.

"I think it is highly unlikely that he will be here [at Mercedes], and I don't think he wants to be my team mate," said Hamilton in Belgium on Thursday. "I know he doesn't want to be my team mate. He would not be in the position he is now in his team, in terms of how the team operate, if he was here."

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In 2017, both Hamilton and Vettel are locked in a tense rivalry and battle in the Drivers' Championship. This rivalry reached its zenith at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June, where Vettel side-swiped Hamilton when behind the safety car after supposedly being brake tested by the Briton. With both drivers having four wins apiece this season, the battle for the crown looks set to go down to the final race at Abu Dhabi.

At Ferrari, Vettel is the clear number 1 driver while Kimi Raikkonen carries out a support role at the team. By contrast, Mercedes run a policy where both drivers hold equal status. This can be seen at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month, which saw Hamilton give up a podium finish to Valtteri Bottas on the final lap of the race by prior agreement.

While Hamilton still has one year left on his current contract with Mercedes, Vettel's deal with Ferrari runs out at the end of 2017. Mercedes is also yet to confirm its second driver for next season, with Valtteri Bottas joining the Silver Arrows this year on a one season deal following the retirement of Nico Rosberg.

"I don't believe any of the bosses or any of the individuals within the team is unhappy with what is currently in place, so I find it hard to believe they will change that," said Hamilton, who cooperates and gets on well with Bottas as his team mate.

Ferrari recently confirmed Kimi Raikkonen for 2018, meaning that the Finn will drive for the Scuderia again after rejoining the squad in 2014. It was expected that the confirmation of Raikkonen was a precursor for the signing of Sebastian Vettel, however, the four-time champion has played down expectations of an announcement at the Italian Grand Prix.

"No news yet and the main focus now is not to focus on news, the main focus is on the race and that will be the same next week," said Vettel. "So I don’t expect news within the next two weeks, to be honest."

Chris Soulsby