Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has thrown his support behind Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel. This support comes on the back of a run of poor form and mistakes for the German. Sadly for Vettel, he endured a nightmarish weekend in Britain coupled by a crash with Max Verstappen.

While Lewis Hamilton snatched his record sixth British Grand Prix win, Vettel’s race ended in tears. He was slapped with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision and ended up 16th.

So far this season, Vettel has struggled to establish himself as the team leader in the last three races. As a result of his misfortunes, the Ferrari driver is 100 points behind Hamilton in the overall standings after 10 rounds.

Amid all this, is speculation about the German’s future at Ferrari and possible retirement from Formula One. However, Vettel insists that he is committed and staying.

“I loved competing against Ferrari last year. I wish that the battle today was with the Ferraris, it’s different when you’re racing within a team,” confessed Lewis Hamilton.

“I much prefer it when you’re racing against Red Bull and Ferrari but currently that’s how it is. I absolutely believe he will rebound.

“He’s had a difficult race today but he’s a four times world champion. He will recover, he will redeem himself if he feels he needs to, and he will come back stronger in the next race. That’s what great athletes do.”

The two champions have a lot of mutual respect and even defended each other in the face of criticism. Unfortunately, Vettel has been a pale shadow of his former self and Charles LeClerc is now the face of the future for Scuderia Ferrari.

“I’m sure he’s as frustrated as we are,” admitted Red Bull boss Christian Horner, speaking about the accident between Vettel and Max Verstappen.