Lewis Hamilton claims Max Verstappen ‘doesn’t want him’ to be his teammate

Lewis Hamilton is contracted to Mercedes until the end of 2025.

Lewis Hamilton claims Max Verstappen ‘doesn’t want him’ to be his teammate

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Via IMAGO)

The ongoing Lewis Hamilton and Christian Horner saga has got the whole paddock in Abu Dhabi talking. All kinds of rumors have been flying around and amidst all the excessive chaos, Hamilton has now claimed that the reigning world champion, Max Verstappen does not want him to be his F1 teammate.

Lewis Hamilton has been racing for the Brackley-based Mercedes F1 team since 2013 and has recently signed a new contract with them until the end of 2025. While the Brit is tied down, the rumor mill has gone haywire since Christian Horner revealed that Hamilton has enquired about a potential Red Bull seat.

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While a lot has been made of this by the media, the F1 pundit, Lewis Hamilton while talking about racing alongside Verstappen, the Mercedes driver made it clear that he would be more than happy to fight against Max Verstappen in the same car at Red Bull. But ardently feels, Verstappen doesn’t want it

I’d be more than happy to race against Max in the same car. It would be wonderful, [but] I don’t think he wants me to be his team-mate.
Hamilton said, as reported by Silverarrows.net.

Max Verstappen can’t see Lewis Hamilton racing alongside him at Red Bull

While Lewis Hamilton has indicated that he is open to racing alongside Max Verstappen, the latter has completely played down the prospect. Verstappen during the ongoing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend was asked to talk about the same, and brutally added “It’s not happening.“

Christian Horner, Max Verstappen, and, Lewis Hamilton
Christian Horner, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton (via Imago)

The 26-year-old does not see Lewis Hamilton ever being his Red Bull teammate as he feels that there are already quite a few strong candidates for the second Red Bull F1 seat. Sergio Perez‘s current contract with the Milton-Keynes-based team will come to a close at the end of 2024.

The lights of Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez himself are being seen as the favorite for the 2025 seat but considering the unpredictability level of F1, anything is possible. It might seem unrealistic at the current moment, but who knows, if the stars align, Hamilton might possibly be locking horns with Max Verstappen in the same team in the upcoming years.

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