Hamilton not calling on Bottas to help F1 title bid yet

Lewis Hamilton is not looking to Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to help his Formula 1 title bid yet, saying is it “not how I like to operate”.

Hamilton moved into the lead of the F1 drivers’ championship for the first time this year with victory in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, pulling three points clear of Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel.

While Ferrari appears to be putting all of its might behind Vettel and has faced accusations of treating Kimi Raikkonen like a number two driver, Mercedes has continued to treat Hamilton and Bottas equally.

Running 41 points off the lead with seven races remaining, Bottas’ hopes of a maiden F1 title seem to be fading, but Hamilton is not looking to the Finn for support in his own championship bid.

“I personally have not spoken to the team requesting it. That’s not really my job, my job is to arrive and do the best job I can,” Hamilton said.

“That’s also not how I like to operate. You would hope that at some stage the team makes the decision on their own and I think we’ve got good people leading the team - people like Niki [Lauda] and Toto [Wolff] - who hopefully will know at the right point what’s best for the team.

“So you should maybe ask Toto. As I said, this year I’ve felt I’ve had all the support I’ve needed. There’s been weekends where Valtteri has ultimately done a better job and vice versa.

“It’s only his first season with the team and he’s done an exceptional job already, so he’s only going to get stronger and stronger through the year.

“My goal is to continue to get strong as well to try and stay ahead.”