Mercedes pairing Lewis Hamilton with Sebastien Vettel ruled out, claims current driver Valtteri Bottas

VALTTERI BOTTAS has laughed off speculation that he will be replaced at Mercedes by Sebastian Vettel. Four-time F1 champion Vettel will leave Ferrari in December after rejecting their contract offer. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who is friends with Vettel, has openly admitted his support for the German. However, Bottas, who himself is out of contract […]

VALTTERI BOTTAS has laughed off speculation that he will be replaced at Mercedes by Sebastian Vettel.

Four-time F1 champion Vettel will leave Ferrari in December after rejecting their contract offer.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who is friends with Vettel, has openly admitted his support for the German.

However, Bottas, who himself is out of contract on December 31, says he’s been told Merc are NOT interested in the Ferrari man.

He said: “No, the speculation doesn’t get to you. We’ve been very honest also with my team all the time, what’s the situation, and how it’s going to be contract-wise.

“I got a pretty straight message that no, they are not considering Seb, so I said fine, no worries then.”

Bottas’ future has regularly been the subject for much speculation since he joined Mercedes in 2017 as a late replacement for Nico Rosberg, who retired.

The Finn has been forced to play second fiddle to Hamilton – who yesterday returned to the track for the first time in more than 100 days – but he has never rocked the boat.

Mercedes decided that a harmonious relationship between Hamilton and Bottas was better than the bitter feud that existed between Hamilton and Rosberg.

And Bottas says he feels no different about his future at the Silver Arrows this season.

He added: “It’s the same as every year for me. It’s no different in any way than any other season for me.

“There are always talks, and the situation has been the same for me. I find it quite funny with not even a single race done, there’s been people getting my seat.

“It made me laugh a couple of times. There’s no pressure from that side, because I still have my clear goal for the season in my mind, and that’s it.

“Things will then sort themselves, one way or another, whatever is going to happen. I have no stress about that at all.”

Hamilton is also negotiating new terms along with Wolff while young drivers, Esteban Ocon and George Russell have long-term deals.

Meanwhile, F1 teams are continuing to gear up for the start of the season on July 5th in Austria.

Racing Point will test their car at Silverstone next week, following on from Mercedes’ two days of testing this week.