Hamilton believes the "respect" with Bottas will prevent Rosberg-style fallout
F1 News
- Bobby Vincent
Lewis Hamilton believes the "respect" he has with his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas will prevent any sort of fallout like the one he had with former team-mate Nico Rosberg in 2016.
Hamilton and Rosberg clashed serveal time on and off-track during the pairs' title fight in '16, with the latter clinching his only F1 world championship.
This season, the five-time world champion may have another title fight on his hands. Bottas has won two out of the four races and currently leads his team-mate by a single point, thanks to the extra point landed in Australia for the fastest lap.
Hamilton and Bottas have a very respectful relationship; something the former thinks will prevent any sort of fallout despite the intense battle between the two.
Asked by Motorsport.com why he is confident of avoiding the flashpoints between himself and Rosberg, Hamilton said: "There's things that happen in the background that you won't know about. I don't feel it's the place to really talk about it.
"When he [Wolff] mentions glimpses of that, he has seen a glimpse of it. What's really important is we pull together as a team. We've discussed it and hopefully rectified it and it won't spring up again.
"Whereas what happened before, an individual [Rosberg, in 2016] just continued to go down that route. But that's not what we have here. We have a really great energy within the team. The respect is there. We have an agreed rule set out so we do finish the races one-two. We play supporting roles either way."