Hamilton trying to empathise with struggling Vettel

Lewis Hamilton has confessed all he can do is try to empathise with Sebastian Vettel as the German endures a torrid final season with Ferrari.

In 2018, Hamilton and Vettel went toe to toe in the championship dubbed 'The Fight for Five' and for the first half of the season, the battle was closely fought.

Just two years later and six races into the 2020 season, Hamilton tops the standings on 132 points while Vettel languishes in 11th on just 16.

"In terms of what is happening with Seb, I don’t really have a lot more to say," said Hamilton.

“I saw the difficult race he had previously and all I can try to do is empathise with the position he is in and try to be understanding, because it can never be a great feeling to have been told that you are not wanted, to continue within the team and, especially when you join a team and you get into a team, you give your all."

Since Charles Leclerc joined Ferrari in 2019, Vettel has lost his number one driver status within the team. Ferrari say both drivers will be offered an equal opportunity to succeed in 2020, but it is clear the SF1000 has been designed more to suit the strengths of Leclerc than Vettel.

Despite this, Vettel remains professional when facing the media and is loath to criticise his team.

Hamilton added: “I think this is a great – the way he is pushing, the way he is continuing to try and help the team just shows the great character he has and the great commitment to racing and I hope that something really positive comes up for him moving forwards.”

Vettel remains heavily linked with a driver at Aston Martin [currently Racing Point] in 2021 with Sergio Perez the driver likely to make way.

Before you go...

Clutch problem curtailed Alonso's Indy 500 assault

Wolff believes equality campaigning has aided Hamilton's motivation

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Max Verstappen’s F1 boss insists Red Bull are listening to champion after ‘I told you so’ moment

• 3 minutes ago

F1 News Today: Adrian Newey lifts lid on Fernando Alonso future as Aston Martin victory timeline proposed

• 51 minutes ago

F1 boss: Removing battery usage from TV is good - Star Wars director told me so

• Yesterday 23:13

Red Bull surrender F1 title fight as Laurent Mekies confirms 2027 switch

• Yesterday 22:26

Aston Martin tipped for major F1 turnaround as win timeline issued

• Yesterday 21:38

Lewis Hamilton's F1 boss takes drastic measures as Italian media report 'title talk ban'

• Yesterday 20:54