Lewis Hamilton has previously spoken about his relationship with an F1 rival.
Lewis Hamilton may not have the opportunity to see his former Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas at Grands Prix next year as the Finnish driver is facing the axe from Sauber. Hamilton and Bottas were colleagues for five seasons at the Silver Arrows and helped their team win the Constructors’ Championship title every season they raced together.
The duo have remained close since Bottas was replaced by George Russell, with Hamilton explaining last year that they still “support each other and travel together to races”.
The seven-time F1 world champion is set to head through the Mercedes exit at the end of the season – three years after Bottas left the team – having penned a deal to join Ferrari.
Autosport reports that young driver Gabriel Bortoleto could be joining Sauber after doing well in F2. Supported by McLaren, the Brazilian driver is a top contender to win the F2 championship, following his victory in the F3 championship the year before. Sauber is thinking about changing their entire driving team for next season before they become Audi. They have already chosen Nico Hulkenberg to join the team.
This means that either Bottas or Zhou Guanyu will not be driving for the team next year. If Bortoleto joins the team, then both drivers will lose their jobs. It would be disappointing for Hamilton to hear that.
He talked about his bond with Bottas on Mercedes’ YouTube channel last year. The 39-year-old said that Valtteri was a fantastic teammate and colleague. “When I refer to my team-mate, many people don’t realize that there is a conflict of interest in our sport.”
“We have two titles to aim for – the team Championship and the Drivers’ Championship. Our goal is to earn the most points either as a team or individually, but we also want to outperform our teammates, creating internal competition.”
Navigating relationships can be tricky, but Valtteri and I never had any issues. We always communicated openly. “He felt that either he or I needed to improve in order to defeat each other.” Hamilton said that they worked together to unite the team and had great years where they supported each other.
We continue to support each other even now, traveling together to races frequently throughout the year, which is really great.”