Monaco GP: Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel Discuss Possibility Of Being Teammates

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are battling for their fifth Formula 1 Drivers’ championship with both drivers currently holding four each.

The Ferrari driver mounted his first title challenge since joining Ferrari during the 2017 campaign but came up short in the second-half of the campaign owing to reliability issues and poor decisions on track.

The 2018 campaign started with Ferrari looking like the best team on the grid after Vettel took victories in the opening two races. But, he has since failed to finish on the podium while Hamilton has won the two previous races and is now leading his title rival by 17 points in the championship.

The two have shared quite a cordial relationship during their championship battle and ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday; Vettel was asked if the two could ever be teammates before they end their F1 careers. Hamilton is out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to sign a new deal.

“I don’t know. He hasn’t asked me!” Vettel said during the press conference on Wednesday, as quoted on F1’s official site. “He has a veto so that wouldn’t happen,” Hamilton who was seated right next to the German replied.

“I don’t. I wouldn’t mind. Obviously, to be completely honest, I’m very happy with the relationship I have with Kimi,” Vettel added before Hamilton suggested that the two of them have a better relationship. “I think we have a better relationship, do you not think?”

After that exchange, the two world championship contenders got into a discussion of how they could possibly race with each other as teammates at a LeMans 24 hours race in the future.

Vettel also suggested that Hamilton is fully focused on Mercedes at the moment and that he is likely to remain with the reigning champions for the foreseeable future. Prior to their discussion the Ferrari driver had also welcomed talk of Charles Leclerc, a Ferrari junior driver, joining the team next season after his impressive performances for Sauber in the recent races.

“I don’t know. Maybe if we get closer. I don’t know. Plus, we just spoke about Charles. I don’t know, you never know what happens,” Vettel added.

“I’m pretty sure that Lewis’ priority lies with Mercedes. Everything else would be a big surprise but you never know, so we will see. Maybe, one day, I don’t know, we will both go somewhere else because we’re old or… I don’t know."

“Never say never. For me, at the moment, it doesn’t really matter, I’m very happy to be where I am for the time that everyone knows. I know and then we will see what happens,” the Ferrari driver concluded.

Hamilton also indicated that it is unlikely the duo will drive in the same team during their time in the F1, but the Briton made it clear that he is down with racing, whoever is his teammate.

The Monaco Grand Prix weekend gets underway on Thursday with the first and second free practice sessions. As usual, Friday will see no action on the track with the teams and cars returning on Saturday for free practice three and qualifying. The main race will get underway on Sunday at 9.10 a.m. EDT.