06 January 2023 , 17:22
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Mercedes once held discussions with Sebastian Vettel over a deal to make him Lewis Hamilton's team-mate, the German racer has revealed.
Already a four-time world champion by that point, Vettel was racing for Ferrari at the time. He had just completed his second season with the Italian team when, in 2016, Nico Rosberg announced his retirement after beating Hamilton to the title.
The Silver Arrows were forced to find a replacement at short notice to partner Hamilton going forward. And who better to field alongside a triple champion, as the Brit was at the time, than someone who had enjoyed so much of his own title success as Vettel?
"Maybe there was [a chance], I spoke with Niki [Lauda]," he recalled. "But to be honest, it was halfway through the Ferrari period. Obviously it would have been a big deal, because Lewis was their number one and I'm not sure whether they would have liked to have us both in the team.
"But I also didn't have great interest at that time, because I was so committed to Ferrari. That was my dream to make that thing work so you talk to each other but it wasn't really serious. I think it would have been a great challenge and I think I would have enjoyed that but it just wasn't meant to be.
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"My focus was to win with Ferrari. I didn't want to change team and win with Mercedes, but it just didn't happen. I am cool with that. I think I would have enjoyed racing with Lewis, we get along really well and our moment was the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where we had maybe what you would call nowadays a misunderstanding!"
Valtteri Bottas joined Hamilton at Mercedes for the 2017 season instead (PA)That collision in Baku was the main flashpoint between two drivers who spent so many years competing against one another for the title. Things got pretty heated after but, as explained late last year as Vettel prepared for his F1 retirement, they have a much better relationship these days.
Hamilton said: "Out of all the drivers that I've raced with, Seb was the first one to stand by me and take the knee with me. He is the first one to go out of his way to fight for things he cares about. I don't believe I've seen any driver in the history of the sport do what he and I have been doing in terms of utilising the platform, being outspoken and taking that risk. I really see him as an ally."
Ahead of Vettel's final F1 race in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton organised a dinner attended by all 20 drivers on the grid to say a proper goodbye to the German. The Mercedes star even forked out for the bill and all of them enjoyed a friendly nice as team rivalries were put aside.