Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton says he has never needed a team-mate to find the motivation to push himself but admits “the better the driver the better it is for me”.
After four seasons spent doing battle with Nico Rosberg, the Briton will have a new team-mate in 2017 following the reigning world champion’s shock decision to withdraw for the sport on Friday.
“I does not matter who they put alongside me, I’m here to race,” Hamilton said when asked about who he would like to see in the other Mercedes car next year.
“I’ve never needed a team-mate to be able to push me but obviously the better the driver, the better it is for me when I finish ahead of him.
“You need someone with good values to come in and represent the team in a positive way, good work ethics and consistency so we can challenge for the Constructors’ championship.
“You have got Daniel [Ricciardo] and [Max] Verstappen, very consistent, so in terms of challenging for the Constructors’ title, which is the team’s first goal, we need to make sure we have someone equally consistent.”
Hamilton adds that he would be happy to give his thoughts to the team while it is assessing potential candidates.
“If they want to talk to me about it, they can. Ultimately that’s someone I will have to work well within the team.
“There will be stronger characters who will be able to deal with the competition and other drivers who will take alternative routes to be able deal with it.
“There will be a good candidate out there.
“I am interested to see who would want to be my team-mate.”
Before Rosberg, Hamilton partnered Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, and Jenson Button at McLaren, with the first relationship infamously going up in flames in 2007.
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