Lewis Hamilton says he won't be gifting Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas a victory in the final two races of the 2018 season, even if he's in a position to do so.
With the title now wrapped up at the previous race in Mexico, 2018 champion Hamilton was asked if he would consider 'gifting' his team-mate a victory should he find himself ahead of the Finn this weekend in Brazil or at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton, who was gifted a win by Bottas in Russia after the 29-year-old moved over at the request of his team, said he wouldn't do so because Bottas wouldn't want to win a race in such a manner, given it's not decisive for the championship.
"The team are not going to make that call," replied the Briton. "if I’m in the position…I mean I’ve not asked Valtteri if it’s something he would want, but I don’t think he’s going to want that. He’s going to want to win in it in his own way.
"So I don’t know if I’ll be doing him any favours in the sense of giving him a win, I don’t think he needs that. I think he can do it himself.
"All I’ve got to do is make sure I’m supportive throughout the weekend. I’m always really open with my setup, so I’ll continue to be so."
Bottas has yet to claim a win in 2018 and currently sits fourth in the standings, nine points behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and just 11 ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
However he too insisted a gifted victory wasn't of interest, adding: "I definitely wouldn’t want to win by being given [it]… I want to win by winning the race myself."
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