Mercedes Deny Talks of Approaching Vettel, Alonso or Verstappen for a Race Seat

Published 11/08/2019, 9:20 AM EST

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With a variety of F1 contracts expiring at the end of 2020, the driver market will be blown wide open. With the 2021 F1 rules also announced, it will be interesting to see how teams like Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull interpret them and who will lead the rat race.

Of course, that will also mean that the top drivers will be scrambling to nab the best seat possible. However, that also means that an infinite number of rumours are floating about, linking various top drivers in rival teams. Some rumours linked Mercedes to the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen

In wake of these whispers, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff quashed them pretty quickly. He insisted that the three were never contacted to become Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate.

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Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas will be preparing for his fourth season with Mercedes in 2020. It is safe to say that Wolff and the team are extremely happy with his performance in the W10. As an added bonus, there is an intra-team harmony which erases all traces of the toxic atmosphere between Hamilton and former team-mate Nico Rosberg.

via Imago

“They are all high level drivers,” Wolff told Sky Sports Italy in an interview. “But it is important that when you are in a relationship, I put everything into it. When things go wrong the first thing I do is talk to that person and see if we can solve the problem.

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“If it’s not possible then I talk to others. At the moment I think we have the best team. I think Lewis and Valtteri are great together and I don’t think I could have a better team. The relationship is wonderful so no, I never contacted Seb, Fernando or Max.”

Wolff even insists that Valtteri Bottas has the talent and capability to win a World Championship.

He continued, “I think last year’s title race changed in Baku, Valtteri was unlucky there. I am sure that if Bottas starts the season well then he can win the title because he is mentally very strong.”

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“At the moment Lewis is so strong there is no one who can beat him, but we have chosen two drivers to win the World Championship, not one to be a second driver to Lewis.”

via Imago

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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