Lewis Hamilton said the only request is equal rights for him and his new teammate after the retirement of Nico Rosberg. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed that the decision had caught the team off-guard. And that Rosberg’s replacement has not yet been chosen. Hamilton said he would leave it entirely up to Mercedes to find him a new teammate.
“It doesn’t matter who [they pick]. I’ll race them, I’m here to race. Now the focus is obviously on next year and hoping for a better season. – I’ve never been a driver to request [in regards to teammates]. I know a lot of the other drivers – Sebastian [Vettel] and Fernando [Alonso] – make sure it is in their contract. I just always asked to have equal rights.
As long we’re treated fairly, it doesn’t matter who is alongside you. Of course, we’ve got great team bosses who I’m sure will choose the right people to be representing the brand. I’ve never needed a teammate to be able to push me. The better the driver, the better it is for me when I finish ahead of them.
“You need someone with good values coming in and representing the team in a positive way. Good work ethic and consistency, obviously, so we can those win constructors’ championships. Obviously, you’ve got Daniel [Ricciardo] and [Max] Verstappen who are very very consistent. So, in terms of challenging for constructors’ titles. Which is obviously the team’s first goal, we need to make sure we have someone equally as consistent as what we had before.”
